Three New Species of Crustaceans Are Found in Coral Reefs

Three new species of crustaceans were discovered by researchers at Ryukyus University and Kagoshima University, Japan and Palau International Reef Center. Moreover, all three species are widely found throughout the Indian Ocean, with at least two species found in the Red Sea, Maldives, Palau and southern Japan.

Key Facts About Ocean

Zoantharians, or Colonial anemones are much harder to discover, live in sea caves, coral cracks, or at depths of less than 20 meters.

This species and two other new species of the genus Antipathozoanthus, in which many species in this genus only live on the black coral populations. However, surprisingly, one of the newly discovered species does not live on black corals, but instead in narrow cracks in coral reefs.

Leading researcher Hiroki Kise said: "We think the new species of the genus Antipathozoanthus obscurus has evolved from the black coral to take advantage of the available space in coral cracks. This is another example of their diversity is just below the ocean but we still don't know anything about it. . "

Why Ocean Matters

Coral reefs threatened by rising temperatures due to global warming are often thought to contain many species, including many undiscovered or unknown species.

Among the other two new species, there is one species named Antipathozoanthus remengesaui, named after the current president of Palau, Tommy Remengesau.

Dr. James Reimer said: "Much of our work is in Palau. Palau is considered a leading area in marine conservation, and is largely due to the ideal and right vision of President Remengesau.".

Although the new discovery sheds more light on our understanding of coral reef biodiversity, this work is still far away. In fact, the researchers estimate that they still have up to 10 other insect-eating crustaceans not yet discovered from Palau and Okinawa waters.

See more:

• The largest depth in the ocean detected living organisms.
• Listed 10 largest species of creatures in the ocean.
• Strange creatures hide deep in the ocean floor.