CANBERRA, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Australian researchers have discovered 275 new species of deep sea creatures off the coast of South Australia (SA), it was announced on Thursday.
In addition to the new species, the 15-million-U.S. dollar Great Australian Bight Research Program also discovered more evidence of large offshore oil and gas reserves.
The project was a collaboration between researchers from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), Flinders University and the University of Adelaide.
Of the 275 species were new types of isopods, decapods and worms, all of which were found at depths between 200 and 4,000 meters.
More than 63,000 specimens were collected by over 100 scientists over the four years of the study, the CSIRO's Alan Williams said.
"We've collected many hundreds of species of fishes, larger epifauna -- things like coral sponges, echinoderms and so forth and a large proportion of these are new, that is never before seen by scientists," Williams told Australian media.
"Although our survey has turned up literally hundreds of species, the data also shows that we can expect to see many more if we increase or extend our sampling effort."
As well as finding new species, the project also determined that some of Australia's most iconic marine life such as sea lions and fur seals also naturally occur in the area.
