[nasional_list] [ppiindia] It walks, but it's no land shark

From: "Ambon" <sea@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <"Undisclosed-Recipient:;"@freelists.org>
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2006 03:30:46 +0200

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It walks, but it's no land shark
MICHAEL CASEY

Associated Press

BANGKOK - Scientists combing through undersea fauna off Indonesia's Papua
province say they have discovered dozens of new species, including a shark that
walks on its fins and a shrimp that looks like a praying mantis.

The team from U.S.-based Conservation International also warned that the area -
known as Bird's Head Seascape - is under danger from fishermen who use dynamite
and cyanide to net their catches and called on Indonesia's government to do
more to protect it.

"It's one of the most stunningly beautiful landscapes and seascapes on the
planet," said Mark Erdmann, a senior adviser of Conservation International who
led two surveys to the area earlier this year.

"Above and below water, it's simply mind blowing," he said.

Mr. Erdmann and his team said they had discovered 52 new species, including 24
fish, 20 coral and eight shrimp. Among the highlights were an epaulette shark
that walks on its fins and a praying mantis-like shrimp, he said.

Conservation International said papers on two of the new fish species, called
flasher wrasse because of the bright colours the male exhibits during mating,
have been accepted for publication to the Aqua, Journal of Ichthyology and
Aquatic Biology.

Carden Wallace, a coral expert and principal scientist at the Museum of
Tropical Queensland in Townsville, Australia, said she was not surprised by the
finding, "mostly because it is a remote location and hasn't been visited by
scientists very much."

Ms. Wallace said the finds should give scientists crucial data.

"This will give us a better understanding of where all this diversity
originates from and how vulnerable it may be," she said.

Mr. Erdmann said the discoveries add to the reputation of the area, which
stretches for 180, 000 square kilometres on the northwestern end of Indonesia's
Papua province. Dubbed Asia's "Coral Triangle," it is home to more than 1,200
species of fish and almost 600 species of reef-building coral - 75 per cent of
the world's known total.

But the region's biodiversity faces threats from the subsistence fishermen as
well as from a government plan to introduce commercial fishing along the coast.
That has prompted Conservation International to call for the government to set
up a series of marine parks around Bird's Head Seascape.

"These Papuan reefs are literally species factories that require special
attention to protect them from unsustainable fisheries and other threats so
they can continue to benefit their local owners and the global community," Mr.
Erdmann said.

He said only 11 per cent of the area is protected, most of it in the Teluk
Cendarawasih National Park. He said the government is studying the idea of
creating additional marine parks.

The surveys took place in waters surrounding Papua from Teluk Cenderawasih in
the north to Raja Ampat archipelago off the western coast and southeast to the
FakFak-Kaimana coastline.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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[nasional_list] [ppiindia] It walks, but it's no land shark

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