WORLD> Photo
Hundreds of new marine species discovered
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-09 08:58

A White Topped Coral Crab collected from a dead coral head off Heron Island in far north Queensland, is seen in this undated photo obtained September 18, 2008. [Agencies]

Pohls Sea Urchins found off Lizard Island in far north Queensland, is seen in this undated photo obtained September 18, 2008. [Agencies]

"In Australian waters, for example, more than 40 percent of the creatures brought to the surface by our scientists on a voyage of discovery have never been seen before," she said.

A total of 123 underwater mountains were found, said CSIRO specialist Nic Bax, noting they were home to thousands of deep-sea animals.

"They're really what we call the rainforests of the deep, they provide an area where we get a very wide range of species collected and that's really unique in the deep sea environment," he said.

In the cold depths of the Southern Ocean "things grow quite slowly so when you're looking at a coral which is maybe two metres high, it may also be 300 years old or more," said Bax.