New fish species found off Bali June 27, 2011 by lukesheppard

Marine biologists who have just completed a survey of reefs surrounding Bali say they may have discovered several new species of fish and coral. Mark Erdmann, a senior adviser with Conservation International (CI) said his team had come across eight new kinds of reef fish and one possibly unclassified bubble coral. He said he could state with 99.9% certainty that these are new discoveries, but more studies would be needed to determine and confirm their taxonomy. Scientists from CI carried out the two-week study at the request of authorities in Bali, which are looking to establish protected marine parks in areas with rich biodiversity. Their findings indicate divers exploring the waters around the Indonesian island may come across more such wonderful marine creatures as yet unknown to mankind. Mr Erdmann said: “We find that intriguing, knowing that there’s things there that we don’t even know about.” The team has not yet named the newly identified fish, which include two types of cardinalfish, two varieties of of dottybacks, a garden eel, a sand perch, a fang blenny and a goby.