More than 400 new species of fish and other animals, including jelly-like fish, have been discovered during an exploration voyage northwest of New Zealand.
New Zealand and Australian scientists on board the research vessel Tangaroa spent four weeks sampling the sea floor and deep waters along the Norfolk Ridge and Lord
Howe Rise.
They brought back freezers full of rare and unidentified fish, squid, corals, sponges, shrimps and other species.
"The list of new species and the new distributional records are getting very impressive," said Mark Norman, of the Museum of Victoria.
"The voyage has collected samples and records of more than 500 fish species and more than 1100 invertebrate species."
New finds included jelly-like sea cucumbers, fish resembling blobs of mucous, several species of blue rays found only near Lord Howe Island, crabs, starfish and sea anemones, and a new species of redfish, a commercial species.
But a Fisheries Ministry spokeswoman said that despite the vast number of samples collected, the 28 scientists on the voyage scratched only the surface of the area's deep-water ecology.
The $1 million trip was financed 50-50 by the ministry and Australia's National Oceans Office.
- NZPA
Herald Feature: Conservation and Environment
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