CONSERVING THE UNKNOWN

Most coral reef fishes have huge geographic ranges that span entire oceans, but many recent marine discoveries reside in much smaller corners of the globe. With very limited resources available to conservation efforts, the identification of regions that contain the highest species diversity helps pinpoint areas of conservation priority.

Two thousand marine protected areas already exist in the Coral Triangle, and these are vital to conserving the area’s astounding biodiversity. The current trend of discovery indicates that we still have many new species to find in the Coral Triangle. Certainly, for intrepid naturalists this is the best area in the world’s oceans to find a new species to carry their name posterity.

ABOVE Very similar in appearance to the lined catfish found further south in the IndoPacific, in 2008 the Japanese eeltail catfish was designated as a species all of its own (Plotosusjaponicus – 2008)