From Six Continents and Three Oceans

Its pectoral fins are large and flat, making shark Squatina caillieti like the outstretched wings. Characteristic is what makes this flat shark dubbed the angel shark.

Sharks whose body is full of beautiful spots was discovered by David Ebert, researchers from the California Academy of Sciences, when an expedition to the Philippines. This new species of fish described from a single specimen obtained from a depth of 365 meters in the waters near the island of Luzon.

Squatina Caillieti.

In addition to the new angel fish, Ebert and his team describe the other three new shark species in 2011. One of them African pygmy shark saws (Pristiophorus nancyae), obtained with the basis on kelalaman nenggunakan trawl 480 meters off the coast of Mozambique.

Pristiophorus Nancyae.

Two other species of shark is the lantern shark, which is Etmopterus joungi, obtained from a fish market in Taiwan, and Etmopterus sculptus, who was captured by trawl at depths of 450-900 meters off the coast of southern Africa. As the name implies, this lantern shark emit light in various parts of his body. "This possibility is the strategy of camouflage them from predators and to interact with other sharks," he said.

Etmopterus Joungi.

The four types of sharks are part of 140 new species discovered by scientists from the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, USA, during 2011. The researchers also found a variety of arthropod species, ranging insects, spiders, crustaceans up, including 43 species of ants, 20 spiders goblins, 6 barnacles, and three beetles.

The scientists describe an institution that also managed six new genera, three genera of spider goblins of African-Malagiella Dalmasula, and Molotra-as well as three new genera-Minyaspis barnacles, Pycnaspis, and fossil Archoxynaspis.

Total new species that they find it consists of 72 species of arthropods, 31 sea slugs, 13 fish, 11 plants, nine marine sponges, 3 coral sea, and one species of reptiles, which originated from six continents (except Antarctica) and three oceans, namely Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans.

Researchers also have to climb the mountain peaks of up to dive into the seabed to find new species. "From the back yard of our house in California to the other corners of the world, such as Cameroon," said one researcher.

The study, published in 33 scientific journals have been added record of life on earth as well as help researchers answer the academy's two most important scientific questions in life, that is, "How did life evolve?" and "How does life survive?"

Other researchers said the finding of new types of living things, identify, and classify them according to the evolutionary line with other types of living things mempakan crucial factor to formulate information that can be used as the basis of conservation policy-making at the national level.

For example, researchers at the academy was held the greatest expedition in the history of the institution at the beginning of this year. They traveled for 42 days to the Philippines to conduct surveys in shallow water, deep sea, and mountains on the island of Luzon. Preliminary estimation indicated they have discovered 500 new species.

Although it took several months, even years, to describe and publish the new species in scientific journals, academic scientists have preliminary data sufficient to make recommendations to the Philippine government and Conservation International about the most important sites to be preserved by establishing or expanding the area marine protection. Description of new species in the coming year may also help scientists to strengthen and refine the recommendations. *** [SCIENCEDAILY | MAHARDIKA SATRIA HADI| TJANDRA DEWI | KORAN TEMPO 3743]