I thought people who visit this sub-forum might be interested in an excerpt from a book published just last year by a group of American researchers from California.... The book is called "INDO-PACIFIC NUDIBRANCHS AND SEA SLUGS-A Field guide to the World's most diverse fauna" by Terrence M. Gosliner, David W. Behrens, and Angel Valdes.
This will be "old news" for some I'm sure
".....Within the Coral Triangle recent studies (Carpenter & Springer 2005) have demonstrated the greatest diversity of shore-fishes has been found in the area known as the Verde Island Passage (the waters between Luzon and Mindoro Island, in the northern Philippine Archipelago). The same is true for nudibranchs and their relatives. In the "Anilao" area which includes the municipality of Mabini, the offshore communities of Tingloy and the area around Puerto Galera in northern Mindoro we have now found more than 640 species of opisthobranch! This area is truly the Center of the Center of Marine Diversity or the Apex of the Coral Triangle.
What is also surprising is that this region is not only so rich, but that more than half of the species found here are newly discovered, undescribed species. This is one reason why this area has received so much of our attention and research focus since 1992."
".... We are still far from finding the total number of species that inhabit this region. For example, in 2008, we found 97 species not previously known from the Philippines and at least 50 of these were new species. That is an amazing average of one new species per dive!......."
Just thought I would share
This will be "old news" for some I'm sure
".....Within the Coral Triangle recent studies (Carpenter & Springer 2005) have demonstrated the greatest diversity of shore-fishes has been found in the area known as the Verde Island Passage (the waters between Luzon and Mindoro Island, in the northern Philippine Archipelago). The same is true for nudibranchs and their relatives. In the "Anilao" area which includes the municipality of Mabini, the offshore communities of Tingloy and the area around Puerto Galera in northern Mindoro we have now found more than 640 species of opisthobranch! This area is truly the Center of the Center of Marine Diversity or the Apex of the Coral Triangle.
What is also surprising is that this region is not only so rich, but that more than half of the species found here are newly discovered, undescribed species. This is one reason why this area has received so much of our attention and research focus since 1992."
".... We are still far from finding the total number of species that inhabit this region. For example, in 2008, we found 97 species not previously known from the Philippines and at least 50 of these were new species. That is an amazing average of one new species per dive!......."
Just thought I would share
or maybe it was in another one...
