2006 Census of Marine Life

Limacina helicina (up to 1 cm), a subpolar/polar species of shelled pteropod, found in the Gulf of Alaska.
Image: www.eurekalert.org

Findings from the Census of Marine Life in 2006 have been released. A sampling of the record-breaking discoveries:

Shrimp, mussels, and clams adapted to an environment with brutal temperature changes (2ºC water surrounding sea vents spewing 407ºC fluids, hot enough to melt lead—hottest marine temperature recorded)

A shrimp thought extinct 50 million years ago found in the Coral Sea

Huge new species of microbe, 1 cm in diameter

Twenty million fish swimming together off the New Jersey coast—a school of fish the size of Manhattan Island

—Read more at Eurekalert.org