Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Undersea avalanche of new species

"We found new species during nearly every dive and hike as we surveyed the country's reefs, rain forests, and the ocean floor." That's from Terry Gosliner, leader of the 2011 Philippines Biodiversity Expedition. He wasn't overstating anything: the survey on and around the island of Luzon recorded 300 examples of what might be new species. One of the coolest is a new swell shark, an "inflatable" fish that sucks in water to puff itself up if threatened.

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