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Itty Bitty Algae
Image courtesy NIBR
Called Thalassiosira trifulta, the diatom was discovered as part of an ongoing project to catalog animal diversity on the Korean Peninsula (map). Split into three three-year phases the Korean biodiversity initiative started in 2006 and is slated to run until 2014.
So far, 694 species have been found during the second phase of the project, running from 2009 to 2011. Of these, 420 species were known to science but are new to South Korea, while 274 species are entirely new to science.
The diatom, which forms chainlike colonies, was discovered in Pohang, a coastal city in South Korea's Gyeongbuk Province, according to Kim Min-Ha, manager of the Korean indigenous species project at the National Institute of Biological Resources (NIBR).
Most of the newly unveiled species are microscopic—no new mammals or large animals have been found so far.(See pictures of new species found during a recent survey of undersea mountains in the Atlantic.)
—Ker Than
Published July 23, 2010
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Korean Water Bug
Photograph courtesy NIBR
Looking like an Olympic diver, this new species of aquatic arthropod was found in the Milyang River in South Korea's Gyeongnam Province.
A member of the Entomobryidae family, the water bug munches on leaf litter, helping to fertilize soil and encouraging suitable habitats for microorganisms.
Because it needs clean water to survive, the new bug is a crucial "index species" that could be used to gauge a river's health, NIBR's Min-Ha said.Published July 23, 2010
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New Korean "Moss"
Photograph courtesy NIBR
This mosslike plant is one of 30 species of land plants recently discovered for the first time on the Korean Peninsula. Called a bryophyte, the plant belongs to the same family as mosses and liverworts.
"Twenty six different species of mosses have been found in this investigation" so far, NIBR's Min-Ha said.Published July 23, 2010
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New Species Is Living "Glass"
Photograph courtesy NIBR
This tiny translucent creature is a new species of crustacean recently discovered off the Korean coast in the Sea of Japan (East Sea).
Tentatively named Ascidicola secundus, the animal is one of eight crustacean species found during the second phase of the Korean indigenous species project.
A. secundus bears a strong resemblance to A. rosea, a crustacean that lives in the Atlantic Ocean and has been known since 1859. But close examination revealed that the two are different species, NIBR's Min-Ha said.Published July 23, 2010
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Pretty in Pink
Photograph courtesy NIBR
This pink tendril is another new species of crustacean found in the Sea of Japan (East Sea), near South Korea's Gangwon Province.
Researchers have been saving whole specimens as well as tissue or seed samples from every new and unrecorded species found during the multiyear survey, NIBR's Min-Ha said.Information about each species is also being entered into a central database, which will be indispensable for establishing proper national conservation strategies, he added.
Published July 23, 2010
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