New species of fish discovered in the Celebes Sea near the Philippines by Corina Ciubotaru

The world's oceans are home to some of the most strange and elusive animals on our planet and an expedition recently conducted in the Celebes Sea near the Philippines proved the region is a goldmine for scientists wanting to study new species of marine life. Exploring the waters to a depth of 2,800 meters (9,186 feet), scientists from the Inner Space Speciation Project led by Dr. Larry Madin found some animals they believe have never been seen before, including an orange spiky worm with ten tentacles, a nearly transparent sea cucumber and a black jellyfish. Final results regarding the origin of these creatures and whether they were previously known to the scientific world will appear in the following weeks. The expedition lasted two weeks and included two dozen scientists from both America and the Philippines and a group from science magazine National Geographic. Among them, photographer Emory Kristof and underwater explorer Robert Ballard, who were also on the team that discovered the Titanic wreckage in 1985. The Celebes Sea is partially isolated from the other oceans by a triangle of corals between Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia and this is why species living here can not be found anywhere else. Dr. Madin believes the waters could have been even more isolated millions of years ago, supporting the theory that these animals have had their own evolutionary path in one of the world's deepest ocean basins. The Celebes Sea is also home to very diverse species of fish and from this expedition, scientists have brought back 100 different creatures to study.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071016/ap_on_sc/new_marine_species;_ylt=AsLl9A5MLoWnyeRKdEJ_dHis0NUE

by Corina Ciubotaru for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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