20 NEW OCEAN SPECIES FOUND IN INDONESIA

[Anonymous]

20 new ocean species found in Indonesia
Twenty
new species of sharks and rays have been discovered in Indonesia in a
five-year survey of catches at local fish markets, Australian
researchers said Wednesday.The survey by the Australian Commonwealth
Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, or CSIRO, represents
the first in-depth look at Indonesia’s sharks and rays since Dutch
scientist Pieter Bleeker described more than 1,100 fish species from
1842-60.Researchers said six of their discoveries have been described
in peer review journals, including the Bali Catshark and Jimbaran
Shovelnose Ray, found only in Bali, and the Hortle’s Whipray, found
only in West Papua.

Papers on the remaining 14 are being prepared.
“Indonesia
has the most diverse shark and ray fauna and the largest shark and ray
fishery in the world, with reported landings of more than 100,000 tons
a year,” said William White, a co-author of the study. “Before this
survey, however, there were vast gaps in our knowledge of sharks and
rays in this region.”From 2001 to 2006, researchers photographed and
sampled more than 130 species on 22 survey trips to 11 ports across
Indonesia. More than 800 specimens were lodged in reference collections
at the Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense at Cibinong, Java, and the
Australian National Fish Collection at Hobart.The survey was part of a
broader project working toward improved management of sharks and rays
in Indonesia and Australia, researchers said.”Good taxonomic
information is critical to managing shark and ray species, which
reproduce relatively slowly and are extremely vulnerable to
overfishing,” White said in a statement. “It provides the foundation
for estimating population sizes, assessing the effects of fishing and
developing plans for fisheries management and conservation.”

[Author]

March 28, 2007 at 9:35 AM