Fishing Poll: Taking a Census of Ocean Species [Slide Show]
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SEA LAMPREY: This jawless creature was first described by the father of taxonomy, Carl Linnaeus, in 1758 and sports a round mouth with sharp, curved teeth—one of 5,600 images already available in the new World Register of Marine Species. RIVO/Henk Henssen/2005
NEW SPONGE: Despite thriving in Dutch waters, this Haliclona (Soestella) xena sponge was not formally described until 2000—when it was recognized to be distinct from its close cousins due to variations in its inner skeleton. Bruno Van Bogaert
MARBLED CRAB: Liocarcinus marmoreus is found swimming in the North Atlantic and the North Sea, a well-researched area, perhaps leading to its multiple aliases. Hans Hillerwaert
YETI CRAB: Dubbed Kiwa hirsuta, after the goddess of shellfish in Polynesian mythology, this deep-dwelling crab of the Pacific–Antarctic Ridge is better known as the yeti crab for its hairy appearance. E. Macpherson
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NEW SQUID: Named in 2004, the Promachoteuthis sloani lives at depths greater than 6,560 feet (2,000 meters). Perhaps unsurprisingly, nothing is known of the four-inch- (102-millimeter-) long squid's lifestyle. Richard E. Young
MADAGASCAR LOBSTER: All told, marine census researchers have uncovered a wide range of new species from tiny zooplankton to nine-pound (four-kilogram) giant lobsters like this one from the Indian Ocean. J. C. Groenveld
HIDDEN SPONGE: Despite its brilliant yellow color, this sponge, dubbed Cliona celata, was only recently discovered off the coast of Brittany in France. Yann Fontana
GHOST SHRIMP: This newly discovered translucent shrimp frequents mud volcanoes more than 4,265 feet (1,300 meters) below the surface of the Gulf of Cadiz in the Atlantic Ocean off the southwestern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. P. C. Dworscha
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BREAD CRUMB SPONGE: This ubiquitous sponge, which takes many different forms, boasts the world record for most scientific aliases, racking up a total of 56—meaning the 56 times scientists thought the gunpowder-scented sponge was a species that had never been described before. Rob Van Soest
Fishing Poll: Taking a Census of Ocean Species [Slide Show]Taxonomists are cleaning up and adding to the book of life on hundreds of thousands of known marine species—from plankton to sperm whales
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