Palau reveals new fish species... Pacific dives recover novel fish... The bright blue damselfish is finally in the hands of science, blue damselfish found 120m down off Palau
for the images and Video please go to: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7564126.stm
Pacific dives recover novel fish...Marine biologists being filmed for a BBC TV series have confirmed an astonishing 13 new fish species on a single expedition in the Pacific Ocean.
The bright blue damselfish is finally in the hands of science.
The researchers have a further 15 animals they think may also be new to science but require additional study. The haul comes from deep dives made across reefs in Micronesia. The quest to find the novel fish is detailed in the series Pacific Abyss and includes the capture of a long-sought and spectacular damselfish. The team concentrated its efforts on waters referred to as the "twilight zone".
Sited some 60m (200ft) to 150m (500ft) down, this is a transition region between depths that still receive some sunlight during the daytime and waters that are in perpetual darkness.
The twilight zone is rarely explored, being below the activity of normal scuba activity but above the operations of most submersibles.
The scientists had to use sophisticated closed-circuit rebreather gear to avoid decompression problems. Even so, for safety reasons, their dives were strictly time-limited, and each sortie saw a quick scramble to net as many different fish as possible before the required slow ascent to the surface.
The newly described species include several new colourful damselfish in the Chromis genus; at least one new species of basslet (from the Plectranthias genus); an unusual hawkfish and a new species of butterflyfish.
The most spectacular recovery was of the bright blue damselfish found 120m down off Palau. This was described recently in the scientific literature by team-member Dr Richard Pyle, from the Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii.
The fish has been named Chromis abyssus in honour of the TV series.
The story is a more complicated one, however, because Dr Pyle first saw this fish more than a decade ago. Other researchers, too, had sightings, including one from a small submersible and another from a Remotely Oerated Vehicle (ROV).
It was during the BBC filming, though, that nine specimens were finally captured, allowing for an official scientific submission this year.
Discovery of a new fish species
Pacific Abyss starts its three-part run on Sunday, 17 August, on BBC One, at 2000 BST
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7564126.stm
Rare Fossilized Shark...follow up, The great white shark may have awesome jaws but they are nothing compared with those of megalodon
Ancient shark had colossal bite
By Jennifer Carpenter
Science reporter, BBC News
The great white shark may have awesome jaws but they are nothing compared with those of megalodon, its gigantic, whale-eating ancestor.
A new study of the extinct creature's skull shows it had an almighty bite, making the prehistoric fish one of the most fearsome predators of all time.
All the more remarkable, scientists say, because the crushing force came from jaws made of cartilage, not bone.
The researchers report their skull work in the Journal of Zoology.
The megalodon super-shark swam in the oceans more than a million-and-a-half years ago.
It grew up to 16m (52ft) in length and weighed in at 100 tonnes - 30 times heavier than the largest great white - and must have been one of the most formidable carnivores to have existed...read more and the photos @
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7540835.stm
Fossilized rare Shark found from the Jurassic period some 240 million years ago, this is the first complete fossil of a shark...
The perfectly preserved three foot long relic of a Wodnika will help palaeontologists gain a much clearer view on how the prehistoric British shark once lived.
Even its internal cartilage skeleton has survived for 240 million years before being discovered in Durham read more and see the photo click this link
New White Whale spotted in Australia...just amazing...you have to see the Photo of this Whale...
New White Whale spotted...
Courtesy By Alison Feeney-Hart
BBC News, Sydney
Migaloo has become something of a celebrity
A new white humpback has been sighted off Byron Bay on the east coast of Australia.
The newcomer, which was filmed by a television news helicopter, has excited marine scientists who think it may be related to Migaloo - to date, the only known all-white humpback whale.
Migaloo is somewhat of a celebrity down under. Why? "Because as far as we know, he is globally unique," said Professor Peter Harrison from the Whale Research Centre, Southern Cross University.
It now seems that Migaloo, (whose Aboriginal name means "white fellow") might have competition.
Although predominantly white, the new whale does have some black markings near its head and tail. So who is the newcomer?
A white calf was spotted with a normal humpback mother in Byron Bay two years ago. Experts say the new whale could be the offspring of Migaloo but further tests need to be carried out.
A record number of humpbacks have been spotted off the Australian coast this year on their annual migration north to their breeding grounds.
One thing scientists do agree on is that this second white whale has never been seen in these waters before...
more and the amazing photo @
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7519263.stm
Science...the past of our ocean,Scientists say a fossil of a four-legged fish sheds new light on the process of evolution...
A fossilized
Ammonite from the Jurassic period
some 160 million years ago.
This photo of the Nautilus, (a close relative of the
Ammonite)
was taken in Palau Micronesia.
Fossil fills out water-land leap
Courtesy By Matt McGrath
BBC science correspondent
Scientists say a
fossil of a four-legged fish sheds new light on the
process of evolution. The creature had a fish-like
body but the head of an animal more suited to land
than water.
The researchers' study, published in the journal
Nature, says Ventastega curonica would have looked
similar to a small alligator. Scientists say the
365-million-year-old species eventually became an
evolutionary dead end.
Counting digits
About one hundred million years before dinosaurs
began to roam the Earth, Ventastega was to be found
in the shallow waters and tidal estuaries of modern
day Latvia.
According to lead author, Professor Per Ahlberg, from
Uppsala University, Sweden, this creature had the
head of a tetrapod, an animal adapted to live on
land. The body, though, was fish-like but with four
primitive flippers.
"From a distance, it would have looked like an
alligator. But closer up, you would have noticed a
real tail fin at the back end, a gill flap at the
side of the head; also lines of pores snaking across
head and body.
"In terms of construction, it had already undergone
most of the changes from fish towards land animal,
but in terms of lifestyle you are still looking at an
animal that is habitually aquatic."
Experts believe that Ventastega was an important
staging post in the evolutionary journey that led
creatures from the sea to the land. Scientists once
believed that these early amphibious animals
descended in a linear fashion, but this discovery
instead confirms these creatures diversified into
different branches along the way.
Professor Ahlberg points to the discovery of a fossil
called Tiktaalik in Canada in 2004. It is believed to
be the "missing link" in the gap between fish and
land mammals. Ventastega is a later species but is a
more primitive form of transition animal.
"Ventastega fills the gap between Tiktaalik and the
earliest land based mammals. All these changes in
these creatures are not going in lockstep; it's a
mosaic with different parts of animal evolving at
different rates. Ventastega has acquired some of
land-animal characteristics, but has not yet got some
of the other ones."
For instance, the creature had primitive feet - but
with a high number of digits...read more & photos
go to:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7473470.stm