20 new shark species discovered in Indonesia

Another piece of evidence that we have just scratched the surface of discovering what is in our vast oceans.

From the press release of the CSIRO:

The five-year survey of catches at local fish markets provided the first detailed description of Indonesia’s shark and ray fauna – information which is critical to their management in Indonesia and Australia.

Based on the survey’s findings, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research has published a 330-page, full-colour, bilingual ‘field guide’ entitled: Economically Important Sharks and Rays of Indonesia.

“Indonesia has the most diverse shark and ray fauna and the largest shark and ray fishery in the world, with reported landings of more than 100 000 tonnes a year,” says one of the guide’s co-authors, Dr William White of CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research. “Before this survey, however, there were vast gaps in our knowledge of sharks and rays in this region.

“Good taxonomic information is critical to managing shark and ray species, which reproduce relatively slowly and are extremely vulnerable to over-fishing. It provides the foundation for estimating population sizes, assessing the effects of fishing and developing plans for fisheries management and conservation.”

The survey represents the first in-depth look at Indonesia’s sharks and rays since Dutch scientist Pieter Bleeker described more than 1100 fish species in 1842–1860. Many of Bleeker’s proposed new shark and ray species were rejected by his peers who were skeptical of such high levels of diversity.

More at http://www.csiro.au/news/ps2tv.html

Contributed by Tim Hochgrebe added 2007-03-01