A bubble coral resembling underwater Daisy and decorated garden eel are among the nine potentially new species discovered in reef coral Bali, researchers just announced. The downside: divers that are both a few reef sharks, signaling an unhealthy reef.
The nine species found in the reefs off Bali, Indonesia, during an investigation of two weeks, the rapid assessment program (RAP), led by Conservation International. The surveys assessed health of reefs and will be used by the Indonesian Government to decide which reefs should be identified as "marine protected areas".
During the investigation, the researchers identified eight species of fish and one species of coral which had not been observed before. Among these documented potentially new species were two types of fish, two varieties of dottybacks, a garden eel, a sand perch, a fang Blenny, a new species of gobies and a previously unknown Euphyllia bubble coral (which looks like a patch of daisies). Researchers must still confirm that these are new species, by comparing with known species. [See pictures of the new species]
The new species have only a subset of all of life researchers have observed since 2008. They have documented a total of 953 species of reef fish and 397 species of coral. The coral that they observed was relatively healthy, with a ratio of seven to one of dead corals live.
"We conducted this present investigation, in 33 sites around Bali" Mark Erdmann, Senior Advisor for the maritime programme CI Indonesia, said in a statement. "There was a huge variety of habitats, surprisingly high diversity and coral reefs appeared in an active phase of recovery."
Reefs appear to be recovering, but they are still in great need of protection. Sharks could be a bad sign, since they are an integral part of the healthy reefs. "This RAP survey highlights are the importance of these marine protected areas," Erdmann said.
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