| September 19, 2008 Scientists discover new species among coral reefs
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(NECN/ABC) - Hundreds of new marine species have been discovered recently on Australia's coral reefs.
Researchers have been systematically exploring the Great Barrier Reef off the Australian state of Queensland and Ningaloo Reef in Northwestern Australia.
It's part of a ten year project to create a global inventory of marine life which will help judge the impacts of climate change and overfishing.
Scientists have discovered hundreds of new wierd and wonderful creatures.
Dr. Julian Caley, of the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), explained.
"These new species, some are species that people have never seen before because they're cryptic, they live in environments that people don't tend to look at."
Among the findings were a new species of jellyfish, which looks like its lit up from the inside, and a bizarre creature that latches onto a fish's tongue - the tongue biting isopod.
There is also a new type of sea slug, known more technically as a Nudibranch, and lots of new types of worm, including the Christmas Tree Worm.
Also discovered were hundreds of new soft coral species and dozens of new crustaceans.
The research is part of a ten year project called 'The Global Census of Marine Life,' which aims to produce an inventory of the world's ocean creatures.
"At a rate of say 10-15 species a year, 20 species, 25 species, could still take two years to describe," said Dr Neil Bruce of the Museum of Tropical />
Queensland, as he explained the big task before them.
The detailed list will then be used to judge the impacts of climate change and overfishing.
"We don't know how well we're doing in terms of managing the impacts of those threats unless we have got some sort of a baseline with which we can compare to," concluded Dr. Julian Caley, of the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
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