Many marine species are unknown

At least one-third of marine species have yet to be described.

A recent report says at least one-third of the world's ocean creatures are still completely unknown to science. Despite the fact that many new species have been described more in the past decade than in previous decades, according to a report published online on November 15 on Curremt Biology, a Cell Press magazine details the comprehensive list of marine species in the world - a massive international collaborative study undertaken by hundreds of experts worldwide.

Researchers estimate that oceans could be home to about 1,000,000 species of organisms. About 226,000 of them have been described. About 65,000 other species are waiting to be described in specimen collections.

"For the first time, we can provide a very detailed overview of species richness, partitioning among all major ocean groups. That is the state of art of what we know. - and perhaps not knowing about the life in the ocean ' , said Ward Appeltans of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC).

These findings provide a point of reference for conservation efforts and estimates of extinction rates, the researchers said. They expect that the vast majority of unknown species (including smaller crustaceans, mollusks, seaworms and sponges) will be found in this century.

Previous ocean estimates have been based on expert surveys based on extrapolations from past species description rates and other measures. Those estimates vary widely, inaccurate because there were no catalogs of global organisms at the time.

Appeltans and colleagues like Mark Costello from Auckland University have built a resource list, built by 270 experts representing 146 research institutes and 32 countries around the world.

It has now been completed 95% and is being updated as new species are discovered.

'It's not easy to build it because there aren't any official ways to list it ,' says Costello.

A particular difficulty is the appearance of many descriptions and many names for the same species - called 'synonyms' , Costello said. 'For example, each whale or dolphin has an average of 14 different scientific names'.

When synonyms are discovered through careful examination of records and specimens, researchers hope that perhaps 40,000 "species" will be removed from the list. Similar damage may occur when conducting DNA analyzes.

'While fewer species live in the ocean than on the surface, life under the sea represents more evolutionary lines. These evolutionary lines are the basis for our understanding of life on Earth , "Appeltans said. " And in a sense, WoRMS is just the beginning. "

"This database provides an example of how other biologists have been able to collaborate similarly to create an inventory of all life on Earth ," Appltans said.