Discover more than 200,000 new species under the ocean

After 10 years of implementing a number of ocean creatures, the scientists found more than 200,000 new species.

Two new animals were discovered in the 10-year marine species statistics project. (Photo: AP)

Fox News said the World Marine Biological Statistics (Census of Marine Life) project began in 2000 and ended October 4 with many maps and three books. The number of new species listed by scientists in the project is 201.206.

A decade ago, the scientific community could not answer the question: How many species are living in the oceans? This question may lead to a series of controversies among scientists, because some species are counted many times, even dozens of times, making the statistics inaccurate. Meanwhile, many species are not known to humans. Jesse Ausubel - a scientist from the Alfred Sloan Foundation - has set up a project to survey the number of species under the oceans.

About 2,700 scientists from more than 80 countries participated in the project. They receive $ 650 million from more than 600 organizations - which include governments, private funds, companies, universities, NGOs and even high schools. Alfred Sloan Fund alone contributes 75 million USD.

Ausubel said that the scientists involved in the project know more, not just the number of new species. The close relationship between species living in different areas is the most telling thing. For example, Ceratonotus steiningeri, a shrimp-like animal but only as small as an ant, is found near the Atlantic coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Scientists were then surprised to see them again in the central area of ​​the Pacific Ocean. The same species, but distributed in two oceans - is a surprise.

Before the project was implemented, no one knew about the migration of Pacific bluefin tuna. But now scientists know that they crossed the Pacific three times in just 600 days. Meanwhile, Atlantic bluefin tuna moves nearly 6,000 km between North America and Europe. Humpback whales make the journey nearly 8,000 km from north to south and vice versa.

But all of the above species cannot match the retracting albatross. Every year the bird flies nearly 64,000 km from New Zealand to Japan, Russia, Alaska state of the US, Chile and back. Scientists admit it is the longest migration journey that electronic devices have recorded.

More than 95% of human and chimpanzees' DNA is the same. Many animals also have much of the same DNA as other species. Dirk Steinke, a biologist at Guelph University in Canada, says that the number of different DNA in some fish species ranges from 2 to 15%.

'Although countless species of fish live in the ocean, the genetic difference between many species is not great,' Steinke said.