新種の生物３０種発見、ガラパゴス沖の深海　「地球最後の未開地」

【キトＡＦＰ＝時事】南米エクアドル領ガラパゴス諸島周辺の深海で、海洋科学者らの国際研究チームが、新種の無脊椎動物30種を発見した。同諸島の国立公園当局が17日、発表した。（写真はエクアドル領ガラパゴス諸島のサンタクルス島を上空から捉えた様子。資料写真）
　ガラパゴス国立公園によると、深海専門家らが発見したのはソフトコーラルと海綿動物の群体で、中にはタケサンゴ１０種、八放サンゴ４種、クモヒトデ１種、海綿動物１１種の他、コシオリエビの名で知られる甲殻類の４種が含まれるという。
　ガラパゴス諸島の国際ＮＧＯチャールズ・ダーウィン財団は「今回の発見には、熱帯東太平洋では初めて見つかった巨大な単型のソフトコーラルや、１メートルを超える大きさまで成長する新種のガラス海綿、無数の近縁類を宿すウミウチワなどが含まれている」と発表した。
　同財団の科学者らは、国立公園理事会と海洋探検基金と協力し、最新鋭の遠隔操作型無人潜水機（ＲＯＶ）を用い、水深最大３４００メートルの深海の生態系を調査。
　２０１５年に実施された深海調査では、全長６４メートルの探査船ノーチラスからＲＯＶの「アルゴス」と「ヘラクレス」を遠隔操作した。
　研究を率いた同財団の海洋科学者、ペラヨ・サリナス・デレオン氏は、「深海は、地球最後の未開地として残っている。今回の研究によって、ガラパゴス諸島のあまり知られていない生物群を目にすることができた」と述べている。
　大陸沿岸部から西に約１０００キロ離れたエクアドルのガラパゴス諸島には、地球上で最も多くの動物種が生息する繊細な生態系が存在している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/08/19-10:25）

An international team of marine scientists have discovered 30 new species of invertebrates in deep water surrounding the Galapagos, the Ecuadoran archipelago's national park authorities announced Monday.
The deep-sea experts discovered fragile coral and sponge communities including 10 bamboo corals, four octocorals, one brittle star and 11 sponges -- as well as four new species of crustacean known as squat-lobsters -- the Galapagos National Park (GNP) said in a statement.
These discoveries include the first giant solitary soft coral known for the Tropical Eastern Pacific, a new genus of glass sponge that can grow in colonies of over one meter in width and, colorful sea fans that host a myriad of associated species, the archipelago's Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) said in a separate statement.
Scientists from the CDF, in collaboration with the National Park Directorate and the Ocean Exploration Trust, probed deep-sea ecosystems at depths of up to 3,400 meters using state-of-the-art Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs).
The two ROVs, Argus and Hercules, were operated from the 64-meter exploration vessel Nautilus, which carried out the deep-sea probe in 2015.
The deep sea remains as earth's last frontier and this study provides a sneak-peek into the least known communities of the Galapagos Islands, said CDF marine scientist Pelayo Salinas de Leon, who led the study and announced its findings Monday.
The expedition explored for the first time three steep-sided underwater mountains, or seamounts, located near the islands of Darwin and Wolf in the archipelago's north. The area is home to the world's largest shark population.
These pristine seamounts are within the Galapagos Marine Reserve and are protected from destructive human practices such as fishing with bottom trawls or deep-sea mining that are known to have catastrophic impacts upon fragile communities. Now it is our responsibility to make sure they remain pristine for the generations to come, Salinas de Leon said.
The many discoveries made on this expedition showcase the importance of deep-sea exploration to developing an understanding of our oceans, said Dr Nicole Raineault, Chief Scientist of the Ocean Exploration Trust.
Since we never know what we're going to find, we utilize land-based scientists who watch the ROV dives from home and communicate directly with the shipboard team in real time, to help determine what is truly new and worthy of further investigation or sampling.
Scientists studying the resulting video, data, and specimens make an astonishing number of discoveries, reminding us how little we know about the deep sea, said Raineault.
The Galapagos archipelago, located 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) west of Ecuador, is a fragile ecosystem that harbors the largest number of different animal species on the planet.