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  The Independent 18 Sep 06
Dozens of new species found in underwater wonderland
Terry Kirby reports

BBC 18 Sep 06
Stunning finds of fish and coral
By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News website

Yahoo News 18 Sep 06
More than 50 new species off Indonesia's Papua

Yahoo News 19 Sep 06
Shark that walks on fins is discovered
By Michael Casey

Conservation International 17 Sep
Earth's Most Diverse Marine Life Found Off Indonesia's Papua Province
New Species of Sharks, Shrimp, Coral Need Protection

Underwatertimes 17 Sep 06
Scientists: Two Sharks Among 52 New Species Found in Indonesian Waters
'This is the Epicenter of Marine Biodiversity'
by Underwatertimes.com News Service

Oslo, Norway: Scientists said on Sunday they found two types of shark, exotic "flasher" fish and corals among 52 new species in seas off Indonesia, confirming the western Pacific as the richest marine habitat on earth.

They urged more protection for seas around the Bird's Head peninsula at the western end of New Guinea island from threats including mining and dynamite fishing that can smash coral reefs.

"We feel very confident that this is the epicentre of marine biodiversity" in the world, said Mark Erdmann, a US scientist at Conservation International who led two surveys this year.

The scientists found 24 new species of fish, including two types of epaulette shark, slim and spotty growing up to about 1.2 metres long. Among other finds were 20 new species of coral and eight previously unknown types of shrimp.

"It's especially stunning to find sharks these are higher level creatures, not bacteria or worms," Erdmann told Reuters.

The sharks get their name from markings on their sides like epaulettes decorations on the shoulders of military uniforms. The researchers also found new species of "flasher" wrasse fish. The males, which keep harems of several females, suddenly "flash" bright yellows, blues, pinks or other colours on their bodies, apparently as part of a sex ritual.

Erdmann said the region, covering about 18,000 sq km, had a greater concentration of species than Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

He said a new type of fusilier fish, also known as yellowtail, was the only species that could be used for human food found in the two surveys, lasting a total of about six weeks. "But there's a concern that some might become targets as aquarium fish," he said.

He said Indonesia's Fisheries Ministry wanted to increase the number of marine protected areas, currently covering only 11 per cent of the area around the peninsula.

"We are very concerned about the potential impact of planned commercial fisheries expansion in the region," said Paulus Boli, a State University of Papua researcher.

Threats include human migration to the little-developed region that could put pressure on the healthy reefs. Any logging or mining on the steep coastal hillsides might spur runoff of muddy sediments that can choke corals.

Erdmann said the area surveyed was the centre of a "Coral Triangle" between Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

Vast coral variety

Around the Bird's Head peninsula there were 1,223 species of fish and 600 types of corals.

The Great Barrier Reef covering an area 10 times bigger has slightly more types of fish 1,464 species but just 405 species of coral.

The Caribbean Sea has fewer than 1,000 species of fish and just 58 types of coral.

BBC 18 Sep 06
Stunning finds of fish and coral
By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News website

Discoveries of hugely diverse fish and coral species in the Indonesian archipelago have amazed researchers.

The Bird's Head region in Papua may be the most biologically diverse in all the oceans, say scientists from Conservation International (CI). Among 50 species believed to be new are bottom-dwelling "walking" sharks and "flasher" wrasse, which feature colourful male courting displays.

CI is working with the Indonesian government to protect the ecosystem. "Five years ago we ran our first expedition to Raja Ampat [islands off the Bird's Head], and this revealed what we felt to be the epicentre of marine biodiversity on the planet," said Mark Erdmann, a CI scientist on the project.

Researchers have just returned for a more detailed survey, which revealed 20 corals, 24 fish and eight mantis shrimp believed to be new to science.

Highlights included two apparently new species of epaulette sharks, which spend most of their time walking across the sea floor, swimming away when danger looms.

Unspectacular, dull brown male wrasse transform into a spectacular blaze of yellow, blue and purple to impress females in their harem and persuade them to mate.

"We were simply blown away by what we found," Dr Erdmann told the BBC News website.

Turbulent history

Reefs in the "coral triangle" - an area rather un-triangular in shape which includes tracts of water off the coasts of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and East Timor - are home to about 600 species of reef-building coral.

That is more than exist along Australia's Great Barrier Reef which covers an area 10 times larger.

What makes the region special, it seems, is a combination of its topography and its history. It contains a mixture of deep basins and shallower waters. As global sea levels have risen and fallen over the millennia, the basins would have become isolated, allowing species to evolve differently in each, before being returned to the open sea when waters rose.

This pattern has very likely been amplified by the region's active tectonics, creating regular earthquakes and other upheavals. Another contributing factor could be the region's isolation from large centres of human population, making it easier for unique species and ecosystems to survive.

That has certainly helped in the preservation of land animals in the region, which has seen several finds of new forest species in recent years.

CI believes that without protection, the unique marine creatures of the Bird's Head area will not survive intact; human activities, in particular fishing using explosives and cyanide, will have their inevitable impact.

"The other thing we are afraid of is economic development plans for Papua, which involve increased fisheries exploitation," said Dr Erdmann. "There are relatively few people living there, but they are dependent on their coastline; and we think development plans need to be revisited."

CI and its conservation partners are now working with the Indonesian government to protect the special areas of the Bird's Head peninsula and Raja Ampat islands, and to manage development in a sustainable way.

Yahoo News 18 Sep 06
More than 50 new species off Indonesia's Papua

JAKARTA (AFP) - Scientists have found at least 52 new marine species off the western coast of Indonesia's Papua, deeming the waters there to be one of the richest in the world.

A new reef shark species, various prawns, corals and anemones were among the "extraordinary and important" findings on expeditions this year, said Jatna Supriatna, executive director of Conservation International Indonesia.

Several trips held by the group with the government's forest and nature conservation agency also included foreign experts who confirmed the new species, he said Monday.

The experts "were surprised at the exceptional biodiversity of the waters around the Bird's Head. They even deem the area to contain much richer biodiversity than the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, for example," Supriatna said.

The Bird's Head area refers to the westernmost peninsula of the Indonesian part of New Guinea island. Supriatna said hundreds of fish, crustaceans and coral species were living at each of the areas researched, with at least seven prawn species, 23 reef fish species and 42 coral species being unique to the area.

Conservation International earlier this year announced finding new land species after an expedition to the virgin forests of Papua's Mamberamo area in December 2005.

Yahoo News 19 Sep 06
Shark that walks on fins is discovered
By Michael Casey, AP Environmental Writer

BANGKOK, Thailand - Scientists combing through undersea fauna off Indonesia's Papua province said Monday they had discovered dozens of new species, including a shark that walks on its fins and a shrimp that looks like a praying mantis.

The team from U.S.-based Conservation International also warned that the area — known as Bird's Head Seascape — is under danger from fishermen who use dynamite and cyanide to net their catches and called on Indonesia's government to do more to protect it.

"It's one of the most stunningly beautiful landscapes and seascapes on the planet," said Mark Erdmann, a senior adviser of Conservation International who led two surveys to the area earlier this year.

"Above and below water, it's simply mind blowing," he said.

Erdmann and his team claim to have discovered 52 new species, including 24 new species of fish, 20 new species of coral and eight new species of shrimp.

Among the highlights were an epaulette shark that walks on its fins, a praying mantis-like shrimp and scores of reef-building corals, he said.

Conservation International said papers on two of the new fish species, called flasher wrasse because of the bright colors the male exhibits during mating, have been accepted for publication to the Aqua, Journal of Ichthyology and Aquatic Biology. The group is in the process of writing papers on the other species, it said.

Carden Wallace, a coral expert and principal scientist at the Museum of Tropical Queensland in Townsville, Australia, said she was not surprised by the finding "mostly because it is a remote location and hasn't been visited by scientists very much."

Wallace said the finds should give scientists crucial data. "This will give us a better understanding of where all this diversity originates from and how vulnerable it may be," Wallace said.

Erdmann said the discoveries add to an already legendary reputation for the area, which stretches for 70,000 square miles on the northwestern end of Indonesia's Papua province. Dubbed Asia's "Coral Triangle," it is home to more than 1,200 species of fish and almost 600 species of reef-building coral, or 75 percent of the world's known total.

But the region's biodiversity faces threats from subsistence fishermen who use dynamite and cyanide, as well as a government plan to introduce commercial fishing along the coast.

That has prompted Conservation International to call for the government to set up a series of marine parks around Bird's Head Seascape.

"These Papuan reefs are literally species factories that require special attention to protect them from unsustainable fisheries and other threats so they can continue to benefit their local owners and the global community," Erdmann said.

Erdmann said only 11 percent of the area currently is protected, most of it in the Teluk Cendarawasih National Park. He said the government is studying the idea of creating additional marine parks.

The surveys took place in waters surrounding Papua from Teluk Cenderawasih in the north to Raja Ampat archipelago off the western coast and southeast to the FakFak-Kaimana coastline.

The two survey sites are a few hundred miles from another Conservation International site in the Foja Mountains. Researchers in February announced a survey of the Foja Mountains discovered 20 frog species — including a microhylid frog less than a half-inch long — four new butterfly species, and at least five new types of palms. Researchers also encountered the Long-beaked Echidna, members of the primitive egg-laying group of mammals called the Monotremes.

The Independent 18 Sep 06
Dozens of new species found in underwater wonderland
Terry Kirby reports

'Mind-blowing' discovery off coast of Papua hailed as greater even than the Barrier Reef.

Dozens of exotic new fish and corals have been discovered in a spectacular Indonesian seascape which scientists have hailed as a "species factory" - possibly the richest marine environment in the world.

The barely-explored Bird's Head Seascape, off the province of Papua, is "mind-blowing" and "unparalleled" in terms of the number and variety of species that have been logged there, scientists say.

Further expeditions are expected to discover dozens more fish and corals. Among more than 50 creatures discovered in two recent explorations by scientists from Conservation International (CI) are two new epaulette sharks, one of which appears to "walk" on its fins, several types of "flasher' wrasse and many other multicoloured reef fish, new types of mantis shrimp and around 20 new reef-building corals.

A total of more than 1,200 species of fish and almost 600 species of coral were recorded, three quarters of the world's total.

Although investigated in the 1880s by explorers including the great Victorian naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace - who described it as "one of the most singular and picturesque landscapes I've ever seen'' - the Bird's Head area was largely ignored by modern scientific expeditions until this century.

Dr Mark Erdmann, who led the two expeditions, said: "These reefs are species factories. This region is simply mind-blowing in terms of its diversity. For our surveys to uncover over 50 new species of coral, fish, and mantis shrimp in less than six weeks is unheard of in this day and age. From the perspective of marine - and especially coral reef - bio-diversity, it is unparalleled for an area of this size.''

"Compared to the Great Barrier Reef, the Bird's Head has roughly 50 per cent more reef-building coral species - 600 as opposed to 405 - in an area with approximately one-tenth the size," Dr Erdmann said.

"Although the GBR has slightly more recorded species of reef fish, 1,464 compared with 1,233 in the Bird's Head, it is important to note that the Bird's Head has received a fraction of the scientific attention as the GBR, and there are undoubtedly many more discoveries to be made there.''

The Bird's Head had 10 times the number of reef building coral species as the Caribbean Sea, which is 20 times bigger, he said.

During the expeditions, scientists twice broke world records for the number of species found at single sites - 330 species of reef fish from an area called Fak-Fak. The area also includes the largest nesting area for Pacific leatherback turtles and migratory populations of sperm and Bryde's whales, orcas and several dolphin species.

CI is calling for urgent action to preserve the area from destructive activities such as bomb and cyanide fishing as well as the intensification of commercial fisheries.

The seascape is also under threat from mining and timber operations in coastal areas which could result sediments being washed into the sea. Only a tenth of the area is currently protected.

Fortunately, strong currents and cool water, among other factors, will, scientists believe, help the reefs resist the "coral bleaching", caused by climate change, which has damaged many other reefs around the world.

The Bird's Head peninsular and its 2,500 offshore islands and submerged reefs lie off the western half of New Guinea. The coastline is extraordinarily diverse, with deeply forested steep inclines and mangrove swamps. Some shallow reefs are inland, bathed in river waters while others are exposed to Pacific waves.

The area lies at the centre of the "Coral Triangle" of the Pacific, which encompasses the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands and which scientists believe functions as a "centre of origin" for much of the species diversity of that region of the world, actively exporting species outwards.

The discoveries of the Bird's Head Seascape come in the wake of an expedition last year to Papua's isolated Foja Mountains, several hundred kilometres to the south, where scientists found what they described as a "lost world" containing new species of birds, butterflies, frogs and other wildlife and confirm the international importance of the region.

Scientists are still debating the reasons behind the region's biodiversity.

Dr Erdmann said one reason was that, over time, some deep sea basins - such as Cenderwasih Bay, a large lagoon-like area in the north of the region - had been closed by geological movements, which allowed new species to develop through natural selection and genetic drift.

When the bays were reopened by rising sea levels or further geological movements, the species dispersed.

Conservation International 17 Sep
Earth's Most Diverse Marine Life Found Off Indonesia's Papua Province
New Species of Sharks, Shrimp, Coral Need Protection

Washington, DC — Two recent expeditions led by Conservation International (CI) to the heart of Asia's "Coral Triangle" discovered dozens of new species of marine life including epaulette sharks, "flasher" wrasse and reef-building coral, confirming the region as the Earth's richest seascape.

The unmatched marine biodiversity of the Bird's Head Seascape, named for the shape of the distinctive peninsula on the northwestern end of Indonesia's Papua province, includes more than 1,200 species of fish and almost 600 species of reef-building (scleractinian) coral, or 75 percent of the world's known total.

Researchers described an underwater world of visual wonders, such as the small epaulette shark that "walks" on its fins and colorful schools of reef fish populating abundant and healthy corals of all shapes and sizes.

Threats from over-fishing with dynamite and cyanide, as well as deforestation and mining that degrade coastal waters, require immediate steps to protect the unique marine life that sustains local communities.

The seascape's central location in the Coral Triangle of the Pacific, which exports and maintains biodiversity in the entire Indo-Pacific marine realm, makes it one of the planet's most urgent marine conservation priorities.

"These Papuan reefs are literally 'species factories' that require special attention to protect them from unsustainable fisheries and other threats so they can continue to benefit their local owners and the global community," said Mark Erdmann, senior adviser of CI's Indonesian Marine Program, who led the surveys.

"Six of our survey sites, which are areas the size of two football fields, had over 250 species of reef-building coral each - that's more than four times the number of coral species of the entire Caribbean Sea."

Though human population density in the region is low, the coastal people of the Bird's Head peninsula are heavily dependent on the sea for their livelihoods - which now are under threat from a plan to transfer fishing pressures from Indonesia's over-fished western seas to the east toward Papua province.

"The coastal villages we surveyed were mostly engaged in subsistence fishing, farming and gathering, and they require healthy marine ecosystems to survive," said Paulus Boli, a State University of Papua researcher led the socioeconomic component of the expeditions.

"We are very concerned about the potential impact of planned commercial fisheries expansion in the region, and we urge a precautionary approach that emphasizes sustainability over intensive exploitation."

The two Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) surveys earlier this year, along with a third expedition in 2001, studied waters surrounding Papua province from Teluk Cenderawasih in the north to the Raja Ampat archipelago off the western coast and southeast to the FakFak-Kaimana coastline.

A few hundred kilometers inland are Papua's Foja Mountains, where a team led by CI and the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) last year discovered a virtual "Lost World" of new species of birds, butterflies, frogs and other wildlife.

Off the coast, researchers found more than 50 species of fish, coral and mantis shrimp previously unknown to science in the Bird's Head Seascape that covers 18 million hectares, including 2,500 islands and submerged reefs.

The seascape also includes the largest Pacific leatherback turtle nesting area in the world, and migratory populations of sperm and Bryde's whales, orcas and several dolphin species.

"We're thankful to the Ministry of Forestry and CI for the significant data from these surveys, and we are excited to be planning further surveys in 2007 to fill in remaining data gaps that will help us plan the most effective management possible for this exceedingly crucial area," said Dr. Suharsono, head of LIPI's Oceanography Center.

Only 11 percent of the seascape is currently protected, most of it in the Teluk Cenderawasih National Park that is supported by the World Wide Fund for Nature-Indonesia (WWF-Indonesia).

Results of the CI-led surveys highlight the need for a well-managed network of multiple-use Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to conserve the seascape's biodiversity and ensure the long-term sustainability of commercial and subsistence fishing.

Partners in the two 2006 surveys funded by the Walton Family Foundation included the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry's Department of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation and its local offices in Papua; Teluk Cenderawasih National Park Authority, the State University of Papua, and WWF-Indonesia.
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