A case of mistaken identity points to need for increased protections
This year, Academy scientists identified three new species of soft corals and two new species and a new genus of sea fan found off the Pacific coast.
For 100 years, the fiery red sea fan with long, elegant branches had been lumped in with 36 other species of Euplexaura, until Academy octocoral expert Gary Williams was able to set the record straight. After comparing a colony collected off the coast of San Francisco to older samples in the Academy’s collection, Williams announced an entirely new genus — and challenged our assumptions about familiar waters. Major cities, as Williams pointed out to Live Science, “aren’t places you’d think there are still discoveries waiting to be made.”
Williams, the Academy’s Curator of Invertebrate Zoology and Geology, encountered the sea fan now named Chromoplexaura marki during a two-week survey of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, and it was far from the only surprise. Funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the expedition team uncovered “rich and abundant habitats never seen before” in the area, prompting Williams to recommend that NOAA expand the existing sanctuary. The proposed expansion — roughly 2,000 additional square miles — would encompass the largest upwelling site in North America, better protecting the nutrient-rich waters that support everything from reefs and seabird colonies to endangered whales.
A walk on the ocean floor
That was not the only new discovery found in the ocean this year. Scientists at the Academy dove into their field collections to discover 24 other new species that live in the world’s oceans. Along with the sea fan, researchers discovered three new species of worm eels, three colourful gobies, three nudibranchs, two snappers, two now-extinct species of sand dollars, corals, barnacles, and two new sharks.
Hemiscyllium halmahera, a new species of bamboo shark from Indonesia, was described by Academy research associate Mark Erdmann. This small shark can fit in the palm of your hand and is recognised by interesting clusters of brown or white spots in polygon configurations all over its body. The colour pattern it displays is a perfect camouflage that helps the animal blend into its habitat on the bottom of the sea. This bamboo shark, like a similar species on display at the Academy’s Steinhart Aquarium, uses its pectoral fins to “walk” along the ocean floor. According to the paper published this year in the International Journal of Ichthyology, sharks of this genus are nocturnally active, bottom-living animals, which exhibit a peculiar “walking” gait while foraging for invertebrates and smaller fishes. Due to their reproductive mode, limited swimming ability, and poor dispersal capability most species have restricted distributions and are therefore often of conservation concern.
(Source: California Academia of Sciences press release, 20.12.2013)
