2000+ New Species!
Posted by: Loren Coleman on February 5th, 2007
Thousands of New Sea Species Found
A French-led marine expedition team has discovered what is believed to be thousands of new species of molluscs and crustaceans around a Philippine island.
The announcement was made by officials and scientists on Monday [February 5, 2007]. Some 80 scientists, technicians, students and volunteers from 19 countries led by Philippe Bouchet of the French National Museum of Natural History surveyed waters around Panglao island, 400 miles south-east of Manila from 2004-2005.
The Panglao Marine Biodiversity Project turned over more than a hundred “holotype” or representative specimen of the rare finds to the Philippine National Museum on Monday. They represent the single largest entry of holotypes to the museum, officials said.
“Numerous species were observed and photographed alive, many for the first time, and it is estimated that 150-250 of the crustaceans and 1,500-2,500 of the molluscs are new species,” the expedition team’s statement said.
Source: The Press Association, February 5, 2005.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Do you think we could get them to name a mollusk after Loren?
I can’t help but think a lot of fishermen in the area just found out a new way to make more money, and to save their careers.
Are they edible?
Yeah are they?
You know the rest of you guys were thinking the same thing. 🙂
This is absolutely incredible news. To find that kind of biodiversity in one area! I’m still geeking out about it.