SOLOMON ISLANDS (23 June 2004) -- AN Australian-led team is set to turn the marine scientific community on its ear after uncovering one of the most diverse coral reef systems in the world in the Solomon Islands. Group leader Dr Alison Green said 15 scientists, from Australia and the Solomon Islands, spent 35 days exploring their discovery – recording 485 species of coral and 284 different fish types. Dr Green, Nature Conservancy's Asia Pacific marine science co-ordinator, said the revelation shattered previously held suspicions that the most diverse coral regions on the globe ended at Papua New Guinea. And Dr Green said although it needed to be confirmed, the group believed it had uncovered nine new species of coral and two new species of tropical fish. "It's still interesting in this day and age that you can still go to a place and find whole new species," Dr Green said. She said the survey results, which would be announced at the International Coral Reef Symposium next week in Okinawa, Japan, were expected to put the Solomon Islands on the map. "The Solomon Islands have long been suspected of being an important area for biodiversity, but because of all the problems (with civil unrest) no one's been there," Dr Green said. | | She said the surveyed area had the second highest number of coral species in the world and ranked with the top five for fish diversity – on par with Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia and Papua New Guinea. Dr Green said in coral diversity, the Solomons were second only to the Raja Ampat Islands in Indonesia. She said the Solomon Islands shared a mixture of Asian and Pacific species of coral which had previously only been seen in Indonesia. Dr Green said the reason Raja Ampat and the Solomon Islands had such a diversity of both coral and fish species was because of the complexity of the habitat including exposed reefs and sheltered lagoons. She said the next step was to work with the Solomon Island's Government to discover the best ways to preserve this unique underwater environment. SOURCE - The Australian |
