Strange New Species Found on Great Barrier Reef

A green-banded snapping shrimp reveals its disproportionate weaponry after being discovered inside dead coral on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.





The teams used a wide variety of sampling methods, which included looking inside the hollow skeletons of old coral structures.


Samples were obtained by enveloping dead coral in a bag and chiseling the structures off at their bases to capture the animals inside.
A single such sample can yield more than 150 individual animals, the survey team said.


Not even this small, delicate seaweed species, Caulerpa cupressoides, escaped the notice of scientists cataloging coral reef inhabitants near Heron Island in Australia.




A comb jelly trips the light fantastic as it pulses off Heron Island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef complex.





A gelatinous "creature" pictured floating in the water column off Lizard Island in northeastern Australia is actually a colony of smaller animals called salpae.

These sac-like filter feeders can either float as individuals or can form long chains as they drift through the ocean feeding on plankton.


A pair of fan worms wave their feathery feeding arms to filter tiny particles from the water.

Scientists spotted the worms during a recent survey of reef-dwelling species at three sites in Australia.
The teams found hundreds of previously unknown animals, including colorful soft corals, tiny shrimp, and scavenging crustaceans.
Worms were also highlighted in the study, including a potentially new class of marine worm known as bristle worms, relatives of leeches and earthworms.


A species of sea slug, or nudibranch, makes an exotic addition to the coral reefs off Heron Island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.




Soft corals--so-called because they lack the hard skeletons of reef-building corals--growing near Lizard Island in Australia.



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