Ecology
A new species of shark that “walks” on the seabed in search of prey was recently discovered and captured on video near Halmahera Island, Indonesia.
In the video, you can see how spotted fish, which belongs to the Asian cat shark family, uses its front fins to move around as if sneaking along the seabed. This clever technique helps the predator track down and catch prey.
The new species was called Hemiscyllium halmahera.
Hemiscyllium is the name of a group of sharks and their closest relatives, and halmahera is the name of the island off whose coast the first specimens were caught.
This shark is completely safe for humans. The water representatives caught were about 70 centimeters long. However, so far only two members of the new species have been caught, which differ slightly in color
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Locals, of course, have seen these creatures more than once, many generations are familiar with this fish, but official science has described the species only this year. The unusual feature of a shark “walking” on the bottom can help scientists better understand how marine animals began to move to land.
Prior to this, a similar shark species was found off the island of New Guinea and off the coast of Australia. Scientists are now trying to find out if there is a relationship between these two species.
It is well known that Indonesia is the largest supplier of shark fins for culinary and medical purposes, and poaching is rampant in the country. Perhaps the discovery of new fish species will tighten control over fishing and help increase the influx of tourists to the country, scientists hope.
New animal species
New animal species are discovered every year. Although it is believed that most species are already known to science, no one can say for sure how many more to discover in the future. Many of the new species are so rare that when discovered, they are immediately included in the list of rarest species.
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Here are a few more new species that have been discovered recently:
Cirrhigaleus barbifer shark. A couple of years ago, researchers from Australia discovered several rare sharks off the coast of Rottnest Island in the west of the country, which live at a depth of more than 400 meters. The two specimens caught were a male and a pregnant female about 1.2 meters long.
Only two years after thorough research, it was possible to find out that these sharks belong to a group of tangerine katran that had never been seen off the coast of Australia. These sharks have previously been seen in waters between Indonesia and Japan, as well as near New Zealand.
Lavasoa dwarf lemur (lat. Cheirogaleus lavasoensis). This type of lemur was found in a forest in the south of Madagascar. The species is extremely rare, scientists believe that only 50 members of this species remain in the wild.
This primate species has long been hidden from researchers due to its hidden lifestyle. Dwarf lemurs are nocturnal and spend most of their time in the dense thicket of forests. They hibernate in winter and hide in safe shelters for several months a year. This allows them to save energy.
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The dwarf lemur Lavasoa was discovered more than 10 years ago, but it was classified as a completely different group of lemurs. After DNA testing, it turned out that this is a new species.
Vaejovis brysoni scorpion. A new type of scorpion was discovered in southern Arizona in the United States in the Santa Catalina Mountains. Biologists at the University of Washington discovered a new species quite by accident, looking for completely different animals.
For 50 years, only 4 species of mountain scorpions have been known in Arizona, but this number has more than doubled in the past 6 years. Today, 10 species belonging to the same group are already known.
Schwarzerium yunnanum woodcutter beetle. A new species of rare blue-green beetle has been discovered in China, in the southern province of Yunnan. The beetle family is characterized by incredibly long mustache antennas, which are usually longer than their bodies. This family includes more than 20,000 species that live almost all over the world.
Some members of the family are serious pests, as their larvae feed on wood and damage trees and timber products.
Geckoella Jeyporensis gecko. This lizard species was considered extinct for more than 135 years until it was rediscovered in the Eastern Ghats (India) mountains. As it turned out, this type of gecko has a very limited habitat in evergreen forests at an altitude of about 1,000 meters above sea level.
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Many remote corners of our planet are home to many species unknown to science that have yet to be discovered.