Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) - partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 22 December 2010

Preliminary results from an expedition in the seas off Sabah, Malaysia have uncovered a huge diversity of marine life, says WWF. The three-week study also found that this part of the Coral Triangle might be the most biologically diverse area of our planet.

43 species of mushroom corals documented in Semporna

Yet lurking behind this superlative assessment of Semporna’s reefs, researchers also found telltale signs of coral degradation and increasing human pressure on the marine environment.

Eighteen scientists from Malaysia, the Netherlands and the United States spent three weeks examining Semporna’s famed coral reefs, which are located off the coast of the island of Borneo.

From 29 November to 18 December, the team documented the overall health of the global priority conservation area’s coral reefs and species, recording a surprising abundance of mushroom corals, reef fish, shrimp, gall crabs, ovulid snails, and algae.

The expedition documented 43 species of mushroom corals in Semporna, more than previously discovered in Indonesia Papua New Guinea.

“Mushroom corals can be used as a proxy for other coral richness. Where we find high richness of mushroom corals, we usually find extremely high richness of other corals,” says Dr Bert Hoeksema, Head of Department of Marine Zoology, NCB Naturalis. Continue reading Huge diversity of marine life uncovered