Top Ten New Species: "Walking" Fish, T. Rex Leech, More

Titanic Bacteria

Photograph by Emory Kristof, National Geographic

A new species of bacteria, Halomonas titanicae, was discovered on—and named for—the Titanic shipwreck (pictured, the ship's rusted prow). (See Titanic pictures.)

The bacteria is part of a family that had never before been seen so deep underwater, about 2.4 miles (3.8 kilometers) below the surface.

What's more, iron oxide-eating H. titanicae may be speeding up the decay of the historic wreck, scientists say. (See "New Bacteria Discovered on Titanic; Eats Metal.")

Published May 24, 2011

Pancake Batfish

Photograph courtesy Prosanta Chakrabart, Louisiana State University

Pancake batfish—such as the new species Halieutichthys intermedius (pictured)—are so named because they're flat and can use their stout, armlike fins to shamble along the seafloor with a stilted gait, reminiscent of a walking bat. (See pictures of other newfound fish that walk on their "hands.")

H. intermedius lives in only the Gulf of Mexico (map), including parts—such as coastal Louisiana—that were heavily affected by the 2010 Gulf oil spill. The fish's status in the Gulf a year later is unknown.

(Related: "Two New 'Walking' Batfish Species Found.")

Published May 24, 2011

Glow-in-the-Dark Mushroom

Photographs courtesy Cassius V. Stevani, University of São Paulo, Brazil

Glowing nonstop in the Brazilian rain forest night, the newfound mushroom Mycena luxaeterna (pictured both in daylight, top, and in the dark) is something of a source of eternal light, as its Latin name—inspired by verses from Mozart's "Requiem"—implies.

San Francisco State University's Dennis Desjardin and colleagues scouted for glow-in-the-dark mushrooms during new moons, in rain forests so dark the researchers often couldn't see their hands in front of their faces, Desjardin told National Geographic News in 2009.

But "when you look down at the ground, it's like looking up at the sky," Desjardin said. "Every little 'star' was a little mushroom—it was just fantastic."

(See more pictures of glowing mushrooms.)

Published May 24, 2011

T. Rex Leech

Photograph courtesy PLoS ONE

Tyrannobdella rex, or "tyrant leech king" (pictured)—rules over the remote Peruvian Amazon.

The up-to-three-inch-long (roughly seven-centimeter-long) bloodsucker has relatively large teeth—like its dinosaur namesake,Tyrannosaurus rex—that the leech uses to saw into the tissues of mammals' orifices, including eyes, urethras, rectums, and vaginas.

What's more, the newfound leech's "naughty bits are rather small," Mark Siddall, curator of invertebrate zoology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, told National Geographic News in 2010.

"We didn't say the large teeth were compensating for that, but it did come to mind," he quipped.

Added ASU's Wheeler, "if you wanted to make a B-grade sci-fi film, the T. rex leech would be a good place to start."

(Read more: "'Tyrant King' Leech Discovered, Attacks Orifices.")

Published May 24, 2011

Underwater Mushroom

Photograph courtesy Robert Coffan, Southern Oregon University

Scientists found the gilled mushroom Psathyrella aquatica submerged in the clear, cold waters of the upper Rogue River in Oregon. It's the first mushroom species known to fruit underwater.

(Also see "Lightning Makes Mushrooms Multiply.")

Published May 24, 2011

Jumping Cockroach

Photograph courtesy Mike Picker, University of Cape Town

Prior to the discovery of Saltoblattella montistabularis (pictured) in South Africa's Table Mountain National Park, jumping cockroaches were known from only the late Jurassic period.

The newfound species has legs specially built for jumping, as well as sturdy antennae that help stabilize the insect as it leaps.

"You don't think of cockroaches and cute going in the same sentence, but these guys are really pretty neat," ASU's Wheeler said.

"I like it because it helps clean up the tarnished image of cockroaches"—only a small fraction of the thousands of cockroach species are true pests, he said.

"Everyone paints them all with the same nasty brush—this is an example of a cute little animal doing its thing."

(Read why cockroaches make good dads.)

Published May 24, 2011

Walter's Duiker

Illustration courtesy Yann Le Bris

First found at a West African bush-meat market, the new antelope Philantomba walteri, or Walter's duiker (pictured in an illustration), was named after the late scientist Walter N. Verheyen.

Verheyen reportedly collected the first specimen of the newly recognized species in Badou, Togo, in 1968.

(See "Video: Massive Antelope Herds Seen From the Air in Sudan.")

Published May 24, 2011

Human-Size Lizard

Photograph courtesy A.C. Diesmos, National Museum of the Phiippines

It has a double penis, is as long as a tall human, and lives in a heavily populated area of the Philippines.

Yet somehow the 6.6-foot-long (2-meter-long) lizard Varanus bitatawa (pictured) has gone undetected by science until recently.

The researchers suspect the fruit-eating tree dweller escaped scientific detection until now because there've been few reptile surveys of the mountain forests where V. bitatawa—or the Sierra Madre forest monitor—lives.

The 22-pound (10-kilogram) lizards are also "incredibly secretive," study team member and biologist Daniel Bennett of Mampam Conservation told National Geographic News in 2010.

(Read more: "New Giant Lizard Discovery 'an Unprecedented Surprise.'")

Published May 24, 2011

Raspy Cricket

Photograph courtesy Sylvain Hugel, University of Strasbourg, France

The newfound cricket Glomeremus orchidophilus (pictured) belongs to a subgroup of crickets that make a raspy sound.

But the insect does more than just make noise—it's the only known pollinator of the rare orchid Angraecum cadetii, which grows on the French island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean, according to ASU.

(Also see "Cricket Has World's Biggest Testicles (But Puny Output).")

Published May 24, 2011