Billion Dollar Census of Marine Life Pays Off

WASHINGTON, DC, November 24, 2004 (ENS) – At least 106 new species of marine fish have been discovered so far in 2004 - an average of more than two new species a week - as part of a comprehensive billion dollar Census of Marine Life that has engaged researchers from 70 countries in all the oceans of the world.

Now completing its fourth year, the census is a numbers exercise and more than 1,000 scientists are keeping close count. The newly catalogued fishes bring the total of marine fish species to 15,482, and Census of Marine Life experts expect the final count to total roughly 20,000 by the time the 10 year scientific effort winds up at the end of 2010.

“We have barely skimmed the surface,” says Dr. J. Frederick Grassle of Rutgers University, who directs the Ocean Biographic Information System (OBIS) Secretariat and chairs the Census’ International Scientific Steering Committee.

Dr. J. Frederick Grassle directs the Ocean Biographic Information System Secretariat and chairs the Census’ International Scientific Steering Committee. (Photo courtesy Rutgers)

Creating a census of many trillions of moving marine organisms belonging to millions of diverse species is a multi-dimensional scientific challenge both underwater and in cyberspace.

The Census database has assembled more than 5.2 million records mapping the distribution of 38,000 marine species, an exponential increase from 1.1 million records and 25,000 species at this time last year.

The progress, which tops a list of Census highlights in 2004, will be announced at a meeting of experts in Hamburg, Germany November 29, along with news of a network of nine regional organizations being formed to advance what Census scientists are calling "the world’s information seaway.”

Still under construction, the $9.5 million OBIS database shows for the first time that near-surface records account for 95 percent of all existing observations of ocean life. Less than 0.1 percent are from the bottom half of the water column. A specimen collected below 2000 meters (6,000 feet) is about 50 times more likely to be new to science than one found at 50 meters.

A newly discovered species of the goby fish, Amblyeleotris katherine, found in Guam this year lives in partnership with a snapping shrimp. The shrimp digs a burrow while the goby serves as sentinel and uses the burrow for refuge. (Photo by John E. Randall courtesy CoML)

"A graph of marine species discovered in Europe reveals a trend line with no end in sight," said the Census in a progress statement Tuesday. "And the researchers say such rates are higher in southern and Pacific oceans where research has been less intensive."

High tech methods of investigation such as remotely operated submersibles and satellite tracking are being used by Census scientists as well as lower tech but equally informative methods such as historical comparisons.

One of the octopods found in the deep Southern Ocean (Photo courtesy CoML)

Discovery of a colony of coral-like marine algae called rhodoliths surprised biologists studying Prince William Sound, Alaska. Resembling hard, red toy jacks, the plants roll like tumbleweed in beds used as nurseries by scallops and shrimp, prompting plans to study their role in the ecosystem.

A suspected new species of clam that draws life from methane hydrates was documented in the deep sea off the coast of Chile by remotely operated vehicles, while a new species of tiny mollusk was discovered in deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the Indian Ocean.

A small tuna is released after being tagged. (Photo by Jose Cort courtesy CoML)

Researchers found that tagged green sturgeon from northern California, rarest of the 26 sturgeon species, traveled 1,000 kilometers (750 miles) north to Canada’s Brook’s Peninsula. The finding may prompt new protection strategies for this endangered fish, known to spawn only in a few western U.S. rivers.

Work has begun using modern sonar detection, remotely operated vehicles, and traditional techniques to catalog Arctic Ocean species, some isolated for tens of millions of years. One area under investigation is the Arctic’s Canada Basin, an ice-lidded bowl containing some of the oldest water in the world.

“In this virtually unexplored ocean realm, we know many unusual creatures await discovery,” said Dr. Ron O’Dor, Chief Census Scientist, based in Washington, DC.

Newly field tested equipment and techniques reveal hundreds of new microbial life forms quickly and inexpensively through sophisticated filtration and gene sequencing. And newly developed protocols for the inventory of near-shore coastal biodiversity enable comparative worldwide surveys for the first time.

Some 200 experts will convene next week in Hamburg for the International Conference on Marine Biodiversity Data Management, of which the Census of Marine Life is a lead sponsor.

When the scientists convene in Hamburg next week, they will learn that their work has won the support of a new sponsor. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has given a $1.5 million grant to establish a global network of organizations to support the development of OBIS with regional nodes in Australia, Canada, China, Europe, India, Japan, New Zealand, South America, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

View the Census of Marine Life online. Click here.