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Friday, Sep 19, 2008
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New creatures found on Australian reefs

SYDNEY: Marine scientists have discovered hundreds of new animal species on reefs in Australian waters, including brilliant soft corals and tiny crustaceans, findings released on Thursday said.

The creatures were found during expeditions run by the Australian chapter of CReefs, a global census of coral reefs that is one of several projects of the Census of Marine Life, an international effort to catalogue all life in the oceans. The 10-year census, scheduled for final publication in 2010, is supported by governments, divisions of the United Nations and private conservation organisations.

The Australian researchers conducted three expeditions, one each in the waters off the Great Barrier Reef’s Lizard and Heron islands, and one in the Ningaloo Reef, on Australia’s northwest coast. Thousands of samples were collected during three-week research trips between April and September.

“People have been working at these places for a long time and still there are literally hundreds and hundreds of new species that no one has ever collected or described,” said Julian Caley, a scientist who is helping the work. — AP

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