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600 New Species of Fish Discovered
zenobr writes "Some 300 scientists from 53 countries are creating a record of all known marine life, in a project reminiscent of an aquatic Domesday Book. So far more than 15,000 species of fish have been catalogued and 2 to 3 thousand more are expected to be catalogued before the project's end in 2010. Over 500 of the fish catalogued thus far are thought to be new to science. Full story on BBC News"
I wonder how many fish they thought to be extinct they'll find doing this . . .
Sounds a little fishy. *shoots self for being so stupid*
-Seriv
Will I retire or break 10K?
It's amazing really. Have you ever opened a marine biology book or anything, and see just how many types of fish are already in there, and they all have names, been disected, etc? I would've thought this has already been done, no more than just a 'few' species left to discover on earth. I guess w/new technology we can go deeper further, etc?
How long have these scientists been keeping these fish TO THEMSELVES???
I think thats Douglass adams that you're refering to. Scott is still alive and sarcastic.
When life gives you crap, Make Crapade.
Sluggy Freelance.
why is this story empty
This seems to prove that the average slashdot nerd doesn't give a sh*t about fish.
That's just my take of course.
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Maybe they didn't mean Doomsday book. Maybe it should have been DOMESDAY book. The Domesday book was basically a census ordered by William the Conquerer about 20 years after the invasion.
You can find out more at:
http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/
The Domesday Book was the complete account of the lands and people of the nation of England undertaken by William the Conqueror in 1085-86. It bears no resemblance to the science fiction novel cited in the link.
HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
Tartar Sauce technology is just not keeping up! I'm going to sponsor open sauce recipies at SauceForge.
Any technology distinguishable from magic is not suficiently advanced.
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced. - Geek's corollary to Clarke's law
Species are defined as being unable to cross breed a viable offspring. There is only one species of dog, but many subspecies, which gets many people confused. Collie and German shepard are subspecies, Dog (canis familiaris) is the species.
When life gives you crap, Make Crapade.
Sluggy Freelance.
The book linked to in the article is some novel about a guy travelling back through time. I fail to see what this has to do with fish.
I knew a dude from Hong Kong who's reaction to seeing our local aquarium was, "...had that, tried that, that's good, didn't like it...."
You gotta love a man who has to get a book made just to know what he owns.
Thats only half the problem. Most fish change drastically from youth to adulthood. Here in Hawaii and I know in Japan, we call the a young fish one name and an adult another and they don't look anything like each other. I bet at least some of the count of the species is because they couldn't find enough specimens to follow the lifespan of the fish.
Are there recipes to go with all of these new fish?
Thanks for all the fish!
were found on the premises of Troy McClure's personal bedroom collection.
"I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
Let loose all those obscure Lovecraft refrences.
If we don't make light of everything, we are just stumbling in the dark - Blank
They've got 150 more to taste. Reports so far include 300 taste like chicken, and a few mysterious 'Tasty Wheats' flavoured oddities.
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sweet, I'm heading to Red Lobster.
Just think what this will do for the menu at Long John Silvers!
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It would be interesting to estimate the total number of species of fish based on the trajectory of species counts. The trajectory probably follows some x% of remaining species are discovered on a yearly basis. A bit of linear regression on a transform of the species counts by year and a bit of calculus should provide a reasonable extrapolation.
Of course a simple analytic model would probably not be accurate for a number of reasons. I am sure there are wastersheds that have not been adequately explored that harbor substantive numbers of unknown species (e.g., Burma). There's also the problem of duplicates. Then there are extinctions of both previously discovered and never-to-be discovered species.
I know, I know, there's probably several papers in the academic literature on this and I'm just too lazy to look them up. But its fun to think about.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
Great idea and all, but do they have to kill the fish when they catalogue them? Hmmm?
Emeril's latest book, "600 New Ways to Serve Fish" has just gone on sale.
how many of those fish are "darn good eatin'"? Now that's something worth cataloging...
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
Over 500 of the fish catalogued thus far are thought to be new to science.
Ah, but are these 500 species of fish new to the kitchen? And are they good eating?
I divide the world of living things (indeed, all things, living or otherwise) into two groups:
edible, and inedible.
-kgj
fish heads, roley poley fish heads, eat 500 more, yum. :)
--
Scientists had no comment other than to ask for more tartar sauce.
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were eaten by scientists.
but had to scale back
Help fight continental drift.
Now we have a ton of new fish for O'Reilly to stipple and use for cover art!
There's a good chance that this might cure disease. Species with useful immunities (like sharks are immune to cancer) should be studied for the benefit of our society... or whatever
"73% of quotes on the Internet are made up" -Ben Franklin
It seems that we are 'discovering' new species of something all the time - so either new species are being created or we're just doing a half-ass job in classification :)
:)
These species aren't exactly coming from places that we've never been before or anything. Too bad you don't really get to name the new species that you find
Actually, this isn't the case. Species are simply populations that *tend* not to breed together -- for example, dogs (Canis familiaris), wolves (Canis lupus) and coyotes (Canis latrans) can breed together just fine and produce viable offspring, but because matings are relatively rare, they are still counted as separate species.
A note to his assistant William Randolph Hearst once scribbled on a picture of some piece of expensive artwork or real estate:
"Do I own this? If not, buy it."
It's a cook book!
Well, the first thing you have to learn about taxonomy is that stripes and dots don't count. Ever see the stripes and dots on a dinosaur? Neither has anyone else.
Form, not color. A rose by any other color is still a rose.
Taxonomically speaking the only difference between an Atlantic Salmon and a Rainbow Trout ( which has different colored dots and its famous red stripe) is. . . two teeth.
(Yes, for those taking notes, that means that the Rainbow Trout is really the Pacific Salmon and the "Pacific Salmon" aren't. The Brook Trout and the Lake Trout aren't trout or salmon. They're Char. That's what happens when you let the "people" name things before the taxonomists get there).
KFG
When a Saint Bernard goes a Chihuahua bitch all you are left with is a wig.
So how come they are the same species?
I think thats Douglass adams that you're refering to. Scott is still alive and sarcastic.
Let's not forget the other scott adams not responcible for the dilbert comics, but rather for early text adventures
http://www.msadams.com/new/index.htm
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
They "real" science you want will be affected later in all sorts of ways...now that they have many more samples & ideas to draw from when looking for new cures for diseases.
. . ."like sharks are immune to cancer. . ."
l
Weeell, no, not exactly.
http://www.mote.org/~rhueter/sharks/cancer.phtm
KFG
Known to live in the effluent from a nuclear plant.
Blinky Fish
Hedley
As much as non-biological science people think we know about the organisms on this planet, we really don't know jack. The reason we are always finding more species is a result of two different phases of taxonomic research; Alpha and Beta. Alpha taxonomy is that basic, initial "I found this and it is different" phase. Usually, this happens in relatively unexplored areas (such as the oceans), or in relatively unexplored groups of organisms, such as Oomycetes or Tropical microlepidoptera (or in fishes). There really are a lot of places filled with organisms previously unknown to science. For example, I am currently describing three new species of ferns from Cuba, one from Jamaica, and five from the Chaco of Paraguay and Bolivia. Humans don't know everything.
A lot of species today are found through further taxonomic research (i.e., Beta taxonomy). For example, many taxa are morphologically very similar, but genetically disparate. Each year in the United States a large number of species are discovered because of this type of research.
And to those who may think that there is something wrong or shocking that we keep finding new species, just stop to think about how many people actually do this kind of research. For example, I study fern systematics, and there are less than 20 people who are actively doing this research in the world. When you get in to many animal groups, the ratio of species to scientists is much worse, so we will be discovering new species for a very long time, unless of course we wipe them all out!
And what do you mean you don't get to name the species you discover? Of course you do, that's how they get named!
The aquatic ecosystem is important for food and recreation. But fish populations are under stress worldwide. In the Netherlands, workers used to get their employers to provide lunch, but negotiated the maximum number of times per week salmon would be served. They couldn't get an employer to pay for salmon anymore.
In North America, the Atlantic salmon is a farm FrankenFish, fed Fish Pellets until they are big and then pumped full of carrot extract to get that "natural" orange color before processing.
While some of these species may seem insignificant, it is important to catalog and understand them to assess the health and viability of ecosystems.
Then again, the whole world is slaughtering fish in the oceans to the point that the most productive fisheries are under serious pressure. So if we can wipe out ubiquitous species, how can we hope to preserve those in sensitive habitats that come under pressure?
Well, at least we will have some descriptions and pictures.
Just 2 cents from a catch and release, barbless hooks fly fisher.
Dude, this is what the other fish are thinking all the time!
Hong Kong dude was just being one with the fish.
Ceci n'est pas une signature
It's proof positive that evolution is real!
Just think: 500 new species of fish created in the last several years!
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
I'll say you're in deep! C'mon, is that the beast you can do? Why'd you clam up so quickly? I know I must seem a little crabby saying this, but you've left the door wide open for all the sharks here to whale on you, you clown! IMO you otter rethink your post, or else you'll have a great white bump on your head and you'll need an angel to nurse you back to health, tiger! And b/c this is /., as soon as they smell blood in the water, they'll move in for the krill and you'll be sorry, chum. Don't think your verbal skills will let you skate by; they'll seas you and you won't be able to arcticulate anything in your own defense! I think you'll agree you should've jumped ship before, as this is only the tip of the iceberg. But there may be a little ray of sunshine yet... this they may need their hip waders to get through this post, so stop blubbering and fly, sea? Tuna tail and... um... run!
Or else .
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
-- Pablo Picasso
Well, was it one of the new ones? Or are they still looking in quake III?
Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
Actually, there are 200 fish species described as new every year. And it has been like that for the last twenty years. BTW, check out www.fishbase.org, the best site there is on fish. H.U.G.E. database.
:) No, I won't tell you their name; please, let G3ck0G33k have some his mysteries of his own. :)
Oh, some bragging rights on behalf of myself... I have described three new fish species myself; giving them scientific names and all that.
As someone whose dietary intake of "meat" only includes fish, i don't eat chicken or red meat and therefore i consume fish almost daily, my main curiosity in that list is... i wonder which ones tastes better and are good for health...
Let me know when they find a babelfish.
Compiling a book of your assets back in the day is just like putting your family website together today. Only just a little bit different.
Have the Sweedish scientists unlocked the mystery of their most famous fish?
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I know it's still not a simple/quick process to map the genetic code of an organism, but wouldn't it be wise to take DNA samples of all of these "new species" and examine them further?
You never know: something could be drastically different in the genetic code of an Atlantic Salmon and Rainbow Trout even if they appear (physically/taxonomically) to be so similar.
Karma: NaN
add to that this species of fish which was just discovered in the Good ole USA.
Should be enough food for days to come.
Evolution is real because God created it.
You should have SEEN the 600 that got away!