The two-week expedition in January encountered new species of
fish, seaweed and other ocean life at little-studied Saba Bank
Atoll, a coral-crowned seamount 250 kilometers southeast of
Puerto Rico in the Dutch Windward Islands. In a series of dives
buffeted by high winds and strong currents, scientists from
Conservation International (CI), the Netherlands Antilles
government and Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Natural
History found scores more fish species than previously known in
the region and vast beds of diverse seaweed, including a dozen
or more possible new species. "We discovered a new species
literally every day we were there," said Michael Smith, director
of CI's Caribbean Biodiversity Initiative. Among the apparent
new fish species found were two types of gobi, while the total
number of fish species recorded reached 200, compared to fewer
than 50 before the expedition. The unprecedented richness of
marine life and vulnerable status of the atoll's coral beds make
Saba Bank a prime candidate for d