On the coast of Australia Occidental, a group of scientists Since 2014, it has been studying large unexplored strips of water, in search of unknown marine fauna. In a decade they have already registered 178 new species, and while they prepare for another expedition, they presented to the world the «lantern shark«and the»porcelain crab«.
Australia is one of the largest biodiversity hotspots in the world, with more than a million different species, and it is estimated that 91% of the inhabitants of the depths they remain undiscovered.
At the end of 2022, a group of experts from the Australian science agency CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) embarked on a research trip about 20 kilometers off the coast of Western Australia, in the Gascoyne Marine Park.
The researchers who made the discovery in Australia. (Photo: CSIRO-Frederique Olivier)It took them three years to compile the information and carry out the relevant studies to prove that they are unique specimens. Dr Will White, an ichthyologist at CSIRO’s Australian National Fish Collection, described the new species of shark.
«The lantern shark was found at depths of up to 610 meters, they are thin, with big eyes that allow you to see into the ocean depths, and with a shiny belly that stands out in the darkness of the ocean,» Dr. White revealed.
It’s about sharks bioluminiscentesand light is produced through photophores located on its belly and flanks. They have a slender body and small upper dorsal fins, each with a sharp spine.
In an image from CSIRO’s Australian National Fish Collection, the Western Australian lanternshark. In terms of size, it is a species of small shark. «We estimate that can measure up to 40 centimeterssince the largest known specimen measures only 407 millimeters in length,» White said.
The scientific name with which he was baptized was E. westraliensis, what are you doing reference to Western Australia, its habitat. This is the third new species of shark that they detected in the specimens collected on the same trip in 2022: the previous ones were the «painted horn shark» and to ««striated egg catshark»announced in 2023.
The porcelain crab, discovered 122 meters deep in Australia
They also discovered a semi-transparent crab the size of an almond, which uses hairs to catch food, instead of pincers.
They named him «porcelain crab»measures approximately 1.5 centimeters in length, and was found 122 meters below sea level.
«Porcelain crabs are known to be filter feeders and feed on plankton by using modified mouthparts with long hairs to sweep the water for small pieces of food, rather than the typical crab method of grabbing and pinching food with their claws,» explained Dr. Andrew Hosie, curator of aquatic zoology from the Western Australian Museum.
They also discovered that this type of crab lives a symbiotic life with the sea feathersa group of soft corals related to sea fans, as they hide there.
Two specimens of the small porcelain crab. (Photo: CSIRO-Cindy Bessey)As a result of the trip, they have been discovered so far about 20 new speciesincluding the Carnavon Flapjack octopus, a rusty red creature about 4 cm in size.
Researchers estimate there are still about 600 more to discover and name. They are about to depart on another biodiversity research voyage to the Coral Sea, aboard the RV Investigator, a National Marine Facility vessel funded by the Australian Government and operated by CSIRO.
They recorded a total of 33,000 marine species in Australian oceans, and another 17,000 have already been collected, but not all have yet been studied.
As an example of the amount of life that still remains to be discovered, in three RV Investigator trips in 2015, 2017 and 2018, more than 1,000 new marine species were collected, of which 178 have been typed and made known to the world.
