Inflatable Shark Among 300 New Species Discovered in Philippines

[Judi Lynn]

Inflatable Shark Among 300 New Species Discovered in Philippines
Charles Q. Choi, LiveScience ContributorDate: 27 June 2011 Time: 09:20 AM ET

http://i.livescience.com.nyud.net:8090/images/i/17540/i02/swell-shark-pair.jpg

These swell sharks can make like giants by inflating their bellies with water.
CREDIT: Stephanie Stone, California Academy of Sciences.

A treasure trove of hundreds of new species may have been discovered in the Philippines, including a bizarre sea star that feeds exclusively on sunken driftwood and a deep-sea, shrimp-eating shark that swells up to scare off other predators.

Scientists braved leeches and a host of venomous creatures from the mountains to the sea to uncover more than 300 species that are likely new to science. These findings include dozens of new insects and spiders, more than 50 colorful new sea slugs and a number of deep-sea armored corals "which protect themselves against predatory nibbles from fish by growing large, spiky plates," said researcher Terrence Gosliner, dean of science and research collections at the California Academy of Sciences and leader of the 2011 Philippine Biodiversity Expedition.

Researchers at the California Academy of Sciences and their colleagues from the University of the Philippines and the National Museum of the Philippines conducted a 42-day expedition this past spring to survey Luzon Island, the largest island in the Philippine archipelago, as well as its surrounding waters. {Image Gallery: Colorful Creatures of the Philippines}

More:
http://www.livescience.com/14778-species-philippines-sharks-corals.html

[xchrom]

1. Recommend

[DirkGently]

2. Cool!

[krispos42]

3. My first thought with the headline was...

...thinking of that cargo ship that sank near Australia a couple of years ago and dumped thousands of inflatables in the water. I was imagining what the scientists were finding... new species of inflatable sharks, fish, horses, women... :-)