A blind eel, deep-sea batfishes, spider fish, and others were all discovered and revealed on a seafloor in Australia. The deep sea batfish is one of several previously unknown creatures found below the surface of the Indian Ocean near the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Marine Park.
A new species of shark, called Apristurus ovicorrugatus. The discovery process began several years ago, when researchers were going through uncataloged materials in the Australian National Fish Collection, housed in Hobart, where they found a mysterious egg that they were unable to assign.
The "mysterious" deep sea predator, which has a gelatinous body, was spotted lurking 1469 metres below the surface of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. Researchers believe the photogenic creature is a not-yet-described species of jellyfish within the Bathykorus genus.
You couldn't miss it,” says Nerida Wilson from the Western Australian Museum. “It was so huge.” It was a deep-sea siphonophore, a relative of the portuguese man o' war, or blue bottles, that bob like party balloons on the sea surface, trailing deadly tentacles through the water.
Microphotina cristalino sp. nov. Etymology: The specific epithet derives from RPPN Cristalino where the new species was discovered, a private reserve that plays an important role in protecting the biodiversity of one of the most threatened areas in the Amazon biome.
Because of global warming however, many habitats have been destroyed and food sources lessened. Because of this, some beloved animals found on a quick trip to the zoo may not be here in the next decade alone. Wild animals such as pandas and elephants are likely to become extinct as soon as 2025.
The sheer scale of the disaster facing the planet shocked those involved in the research. They estimate that more than 1 million species will be lost by 2050.
Said to be one of the most dangerous animals in Australia, the Saltwater Crocodile is an aggressive and territorial animal, and is the largest reptile in the world in terms of their mass – known to reach over 1000kg!
The fastest animal in Australia is a little beetle called Cicindela hudsoni, also known as the tiger beetle. The tiger beetle moves at a speed up to 171 body lengths or about 350 km/hr.
Even the Viperfish is known for the terror it is capable of spreading when it is in the attacking mood. Some other terrifying creature in the deep sea are megamouth shark, Blue-ringed Octopus, Rattail, Barreleye, marine hatchet fish and Snaggletooth shark.
The mythical kraken may be the largest sea monster ever imagined. Some stories described it as more than 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) around with arms as large as ship's masts.
Lygodactylus madagascariensis
A whopping eight new species of gecko have been discovered in Madagascar, all a couple of centimetres long. Until recently, they had all been grouped under the name Lygodactylus madagascariensis, but scientists believe that as many as 18 different genetic differentiations may exist.
A colorful reef fish from the Maldives is the first new-to-science species described by a Maldivian scientist. The fish, Cirrhilabrus finifenmaa, was named by Ahmed Najeeb, a biologist from the Maldives Marine Research Institute (MMRI), after the local word for “rose.”
Quokkas, famous for posing in selfies, are native to Rottnest Island where about 10,000 live a sheltered life free from predators or traffic. They are classified as a vulnerable species and have been almost completely wiped out on the mainland.
The most common verbal greeting is a simple “Hey”, “Hello”, or “Hi”. Some people may use Australian slang and say “G'day” or “G'day mate”. However, this is less common in cities. Many Australians greet by saying “Hey, how are you?”.
The rarest animal in the world is the vaquita (Phocoena sinus). It is a kind of critically endangered porpoise that only lives in the furthest north-western corner of the Gulf of California in Mexico. There are only 18 left in the world.
The quokka, a small marsupial native to Australia, is one such example of a species vulnerable to extinction in the country's harsh surroundings. Known as the “happiest animal in the world” due to its cute and friendly appearance, these creatures are now only found in a few isolated forests and small islands.
At least 680 vertebrate species had been driven to extinction since the 16th century and more than 9% of all domesticated breeds of mammals used for food and agriculture had become extinct by 2016, with at least 1,000 more breeds still threatened.
The earliest known mass extinction, the Ordovician Extinction, took place at a time when most of the life on Earth lived in its seas. Its major casualties were marine invertebrates including brachiopods, trilobites, bivalves and corals; many species from each of these groups went extinct during this time.