New Species Abound in NW Hawaiian Islands
Posted on: Monday, 30 October 2006, 15:00 CST
A three-week U.S expedition to French Frigate Shoals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument has returned with scores of new species.
The expedition of world-renowned biologists and support crew returned to Honolulu Sunday with several potentially new species of crabs, corals, sea cucumbers, sea quirts, worms, sea stars, snails and clams.
It was a very successful expedition by almost any criterion, and the discovery phase has really only just begun, said Joel Martin of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. "What we did not find is also important. There were several groups of animals that we expected to find, but did not find, or found only rarely, such as porcellanid crabs.
The apparent absence of these common reef organisms may provide insight into how the unique flora and fauna of French Frigate Shoals came to be.
The work was conducted within the borders of the world's largest, fully protected marine area.
Source: United Press International
Related Articles
- Researchers Set Sail For Deep Sea Expedition
- Deep-Sea Expedition Lead From Land
- Tool Aims to Ease Academic File-Sharing
- Italian adventurer Ambrogio Fogar dies at 64
- Scientists Lead Sea Expedition From Land
- Clear Rules Needed to Govern Deep Sea Bioprospecting
- Science Held Back By Politics
- Biogeography of Eastern Polynesian Monarchs (Pomarea): an Endemic Genus Close to Extinction
- Farming Killer Cone Snails a Risky Affair
- Deep Sea Expedition Seeks to Unlock Coral Secrets
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds