The 2009 update of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species shows that 17,291 species out of the 47,677 assessed species are threatened with extinction, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature said today.

Threatened with extinction are:

• 21 percent of all known mammals
• 30 percent of all known amphibians
• 12 percent of all known birds
• 28 percent of assessed reptiles
• 37 percent of assessed freshwater fishes
• 70 percent of assessed plants
• 35 percent of assessed invertebrates

"The scientific evidence of a serious extinction crisis is mounting," said Jane Smart, director of IUCN's Biodiversity Conservation Group, in a news statement accompanying the 2009 Red List.

This gorgeted puffleg (Eriocnemis isabellae) entered the IUCN Red List in 2009 as Critically Endangered. The species is known from southwest Colombia, where it occurs in a tiny area of the Serraníadel Pinche. The global population is not known but is presumably very small given that the area of suitable habitat available for this species is thought to be less than 2,500 acres, and it is suspected to be decreasing as elfin forest habitat is converted for agriculture and illegal coca plantations. The primary threat to this bird is the shifting of the agricultural border towards remaining primary forests, causing a loss of vegetation cover, contamination of watersheds and soil degradation. Illegal coca cultivation is a major threat due to the lack of governmental presence, with 8.3 percent of potentially suitable habitat reportedly damaged annually by coca cultivation.

Photo © Alex Cortes. Photo supplied by BirdLife International.

"It's time for governments to start getting serious about saving species and make sure it's high on their agendas for next year, as we're rapidly running out of time."

"January sees the launch of the International Year of Biodiversity," Jane Smart added in today's statement. "The latest analysis of the IUCN Red List shows the 2010 target to reduce biodiversity loss will not be met.

"It's time for governments to start getting serious about saving species and make sure it's high on their agendas for next year, as we're rapidly running out of time."

Tip of the iceberg

"This year's IUCN Red List makes for sobering reading," said Craig Hilton-Taylor, manager of the IUCN Red List Unit. "These results are just the tip of the iceberg. We have only managed to assess 47,663 species so far; there are many more millions out there which could be under serious threat. We do, however, know from experience that conservation action works so let's not wait until it's too late and start saving our species now."

Rabb's fringe-limbed treefrog (Ecnomiohyla rabborum) entered the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered in 2009.

It is known only from central Panama, where it occurs in tropical forest canopy. In 2006, the chytrid fungus was reported in the area where this species is known to occur. Since then, only one individual has been heard calling. There is also some ongoing forest clearing within the species' range for the development of luxury holiday homes, although this potential threat has not yet reached critical levels. This treefrog is one of several species collected for captive breeding efforts, however so far attempts at captive breeding have not produced positive results.

Photo © Brad Wilson

Switzerland-based IUCN is a global environment organization that works on biodiversity, climate change, energy, human livelihoods and greening the world economy by supporting research, managing field projects, and bringing governments, NGOs, the United Nations and corporations together to develop policy, laws and best practice.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is a comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of plant and animal species. It is based on an objective system for assessing the risk of extinction of a species should no conservation action be taken. Species are assigned to one of eight categories of threat based on whether they meet criteria linked to population trend, population size and structure and geographic range. Species listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable are collectively described as "Threatened."

Photo © Gerald Allen

Highlights from today's IUCN statement:

Mammals

Of the world's 5,490 mammals, 79 are Extinct or Extinct in the Wild, with 188 Critically Endangered, 449 Endangered and 505 Vulnerable.

The eastern voalavo (Voalavo antsahabensis) appears on the IUCN Red List for the first time in the Endangered category. This rodent, endemic to Madagascar, is confined to montane tropical forest and is under threat from slash-and-burn farming.

Reptiles

There are now 1,677 reptiles on the IUCN Red List, with 293 added this year. In total, 469 are threatened with extinction and 22 are already Extinct or Extinct in the Wild.

The 165 endemic Philippine species new to the IUCN Red List include the Panay monitor lizard (Varanus mabitang), which is Endangered. This highly-specialized monitor lizard is threatened by habitat loss due to agriculture and logging and is hunted by humans for food.

The rare Panay monitor lizard occurs in large trees in primary lowland tropical moist forest. The species is a highly specialized frugivorous monitor lizard (it feeds on fruit). The loss and degradation of lowland forest habitat through conversion of land for agricultural use and logging operations is a threat to this lizard. The species is also hunted by humans for food and overhunting is a serious threat to the remaining population.

Photo © Tim Laman 

The sail-fin water lizard (Hydrosaurus pustulatus) enters in the Vulnerable category and is also threatened by habitat loss. Hatchlings are heavily collected both for the pet trade and for local consumption.

"The world's reptiles are undoubtedly suffering, but the picture may be much worse than it currently looks," says Simon Stuart, chair of IUCN's Species Survival Commission. "We need an assessment of all reptiles to understand the severity of the situation, but we don't have the U.S.$2-3 million to carry it out."

Amphibians

The IUCN Red List shows that 1,895 of the planet's 6,285 amphibians are in danger of extinction, making them the most threatened group of species known to date. Of these, 39 are already Extinct or Extinct in the Wild, 484 are Critically Endangered, 754 are Endangered and 657 are Vulnerable.

Photo © Tim Herman

The fungus also affected the Rabb's fringe-limbed treefrog, which enters the Red List as Critically Endangered. (See photo and description higher on this page.)

Plants

Of the 12,151 plants on the IUCN Red List, 8,500 are threatened with extinction, with 114 already Extinct or Extinct in the Wild.

The Queen of the Andes (Puya raimondii) has been reassessed and remains in the Endangered category. Found in the Andes of Peru and Bolivia, it only produces seeds once in 80 years before dying. Climate change may already be impairing its ability to flower and cattle roam freely among many colonies, trampling or eating young plants. Other threats include young plants being eaten or trampled by livestock, fires, and removal of pith from trunks.

Photo © Antonio Lambe (Acción Ambiental)

Toussaintia patriciae is an Endangered shrub species native to Tanzania. It is known from less than 30 trees in the Udzwunga Mountains National Park and West Kilombero Nature Reserve, and occurs in very low numbers where found, though it is cryptic when not flowering and may be more common that is currently known. It is considered relatively secure at present, as the population is present in protected areas and occurs above the altitude to which firewood collectors are allowed to operate. However, this species could become more threatened very quickly if the impacts of human activities, especially wood collection, were to increase.

Photo © Quentin Luke

Invertebrates

There are now 7,615 invertebrates on the IUCN Red List this year, 2,639 of which are threatened with extinction. Scientists added 1,360 dragonflies and damselflies, bringing the total to 1,989, of which 261 are threatened.

The giant jewel (Chlorocypha centripunctata) is known from the Obudu Plateau, Nigeria and from Mount Kupe and the Bakossi Mountains Cameroon. The species occurs in and around rain forest streams above 700-meter altitude. Habitat loss through selective logging and forest destruction for agricultural expansion is the main threat to this species. The species entered the IUCN Red List as Vulnerable in 2009.

Photo © Kai Schütte

Molluscs

Scientists also added 94 molluscs, bringing the total number assessed to 2,306, of which 1,036 are threatened.

All seven freshwater snails from Lake Dianchi in Yunnan Province, China, are new to the IUCN Red List and all are threatened. These join 13 freshwater fishes from the same area, 12 of which are threatened. The main threats are pollution, introduced fish species and overharvesting.

Freshwater Fishes

There are now 3,120 freshwater fishes on the IUCN Red List, up 510 species from last year. Although there is still a long way to go before the status all the world's freshwater fishes is known, 1,147 of those assessed so far are threatened with extinction.

Photo © Chavalit Vidthayanon

The brown mudfish (Neochanna apoda), found only in New Zealand, has been moved from Near Threatened to Vulnerable as it has disappeared from many areas in its range. Approximately 85-90 percent of New Zealand's wetlands have been lost or degraded through drainage schemes, irrigation and land development.

The status of the Australian grayling (Prototroctes maraena), a freshwater fish, has improved as a result of conservation efforts. Now classed as Near Threatened as opposed to Vulnerable, the population has recovered thanks to fish ladders which have been constructed over dams to allow migration, enhanced riverside vegetation and the education of fishermen, who now face heavy penalties if found with this species

"Creatures living in freshwater have long been neglected."

"Creatures living in freshwater have long been neglected. This year we have again added a large number of them to the IUCN Red List and are confirming the high levels of threat to many freshwater animals and plants. This reflects the state of our precious water resources. There is now an urgency to pursue our effort but most importantly to start using this information to move towards a wise use of water resources," said Jean-Christophe Vié, deputy head of the IUCN Species Programme.

Downlisted bird species

The Mauritius fody (Foudia rubra) was downlisted from Critically Endangered to Endangered because its extremely small population has been stable since the early 1990s and is now increasing following an island translocation. The species is restricted to southwest Mauritius, and suffered rapid population declines between 1975 and 1993. However, since 1993 the population has been stable, and there is evidence that dispersing juveniles are now setting up new breeding territories, expanding the range of the species. Historically, clearance of upland forest, particularly for plantations in the 1970s, catastrophically affected this species. Introduced predators (e.g. black rat (Rattus rattus) and crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis)) caused almost total breeding failure in most areas, and nest predation is still the major threat to the species.

Photo © Lucy Garrett (Rare Birds Yearbook). Photo supplied by BirdLife International.

Global figures for 2009 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species:
Total species assessed = 47,677
Total Extinct or Extinct in the Wild = 875 (2%) [Extinct = 809; Extinct in the Wild = 66].
Total threatened = 17,291 (36%) [Critically Endangered = 3,325; Endangered = 4,891; Vulnerable = 9,075].
Total Near Threatened = 3,650 (8%).
Total Lower Risk/conservation dependent = 281 (<1%) [this is an old category that is gradually being phased out of the Red List]
Total Data Deficient = 6,557 (14%)
Total Least Concern = 19,023 (40%)

Global figures for 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species:
Total assessed = 44,838
Total Extinct or Extinct in the Wild = 869 (2%) [Extinct = 804 ; Extinct in the Wild = 65]
Total threatened = 16,928 (38%) [Critically Endangered = 3,246; Endangered = 4,770; Vulnerable = 8,912]
Total Near Threatened = 3,513 (8%)
Total Lower Risk/conservation dependent = 283 (<1%) [this is an old category that is gradually being phased out of the Red List]
Total Data Deficient = 5,570 (12%)
Total Least Concern = 17,675 (39%)

Not all species on the IUCN Red List are threatened. There are now more species on the IUCN Red List. This means that the overall percentage of threatened species has gone down by two percent. This is not because the status of the world's biodiversity is improving, IUCN noted, but because we have assessed more species.

"In the past, Red List assessments often focused on species that were already thought to be threatened, but as the Red List grows to include more complete assessments across entire groups, we are beginning to have a better idea of the relative proportion of species which are threatened against those which are not threatened."

Female mosquitofish prefer males that have longer genitals, according to Australian research.

"This is a relatively novel result, as selection on genitals is generally thought to occur during or after copulation," say the authors of the study "Females prefer to associate with males with longer intromittent organs in mosquitofish," published this month in the science journal "Biology Letters." The research was done by Andrew Kahn, a graduate student at the Australian National University, and others.

According to the abstract of the paper, sexual selection is a major force behind the rapid evolution of male genital morphology among species.

"Most within-species studies have focused on sexual selection on male genital traits owing to events during or after copulation that increase a male's share of paternity," the abstract says.

"Very little attention has been given to whether genitalia are visual signals that cause males to vary in their attractiveness to females and are therefore under pre-copulatory sexual selection."

To look into this dearth of knowledge, the researchers "reduced" male mosquitofish genitalia to varying lengths, as shown in the photos on the right, then tested the reactions of the females.

"On average, female eastern mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki spent more time in association with males who received only a slight reduction in the length of the intromittent organ (gonopodium) than males that received a greater reduction," the researchers observed.

"This preference was, however, only expressed when females chose between two large males; for small males, there was no effect of genital size on female association time."

Male mosquitofish do not court females, but rely on forced matings, according to a news statement about the research released by Biology Letters. "This means association preferences likely lead to mating biases. Thus, it appears size really does matter for these little fish."

Photos courtesy Australian National University 

Seahorses are familiar and loved as the peculiar upright fish that graces bathroom tiles, beach towels, cartoon movies, children's books, and even jewelry. That's when we're not grinding them into powder for traditional medicines.

Pregnant seahorse males, bellies big with embryos, rest in seagrass.

NGS photo by Paul Zahl

Although some people own seahorses in private aquariums, the great bulk of humanity has never seen a live one in the wild. For the most part they're tiny, solitary, and adept at hiding in coral reefs or seagrass. Yet they live in many parts of the world, and can be found even in fairly close proximity to popular beaches.

Marine biologist Helen Scales, a regular contributor to National Geographic News, has written a compelling book about seahorses that makes the case not only for these odd fish but also for the entire ocean.

"Increasingly, seahorses are being used as catalysts for conservation initiatives; they are being held aloft as poster species to help muster support for protecting the oceans.

"They are touchstones to remind people of the vulnerable, beautiful creatures that live there, giving us a reason to care."

Scales describes in absorbing detail the prehensile tail seahorses use to tie themselves to a perch, a pair of chameleon eyes capable of moving independently of each other, a coat that can change colors to blend invisibly into the background, and a long tube of a snout to suck in passing plankton like a powerful vacuum cleaner.

The seahorse is the only fish with a neck and the only species on Earth in which the male gives birth.

A dwarf seahorse mimics plumes of hydroids on turtle grass.

NGS photo by Robert Sisson

Seahorses, one might imagine, are masterpieces of evolution, reaching their unique morphology and niche in the web of life through many twists and turns over millions of years.

But she really comes into her own when she delves into the mythology based on the seahorse (the title of the book is a reference to ancient art of the Greek god Poseidon's chariot being pulled by seahorses) and to the thousand-year tradition of using seahorses in Chinese medicine as cures for flagging libido and a variety of other ailments.

It's the booming trade in traditional medicine that is the biggest threat to seahorses. Some 25 million seahorses are pulled from the oceans every year, according to Scales.

Much of the harvest is bycatch in the shrimp fisheries, which use trawl nets to scrape all living things from the seafloor. Seahorses are picked out of the writhing heaps of shrimp, sponges, and other marine animals gathered by the nets, then set aside for sale to the traditional healing trade. It can be a lucrative sideline for fishers.

Five pygmy sea horses range in color from dull brown to golden yellow.

NGS photo of seahorses by Paul Zahl

Scales provides a nuanced and thoughtful analysis of traditional medicine in general, branching her analysis into the pros and cons of farming endangered species (yes, there are seahorse farms, and 18 seahorse species now live in aquariums) and she gives a fair hearing to those who argue that a billion users of Chinese traditional medicine cannot all be wrong about its efficacy.

But it's clear that irresponsible fishing practices, and an insatiable appetite for rare wild species as traditional medicine, are the biggest threats to seahorses and countless other marine animals.

Sea horses, one yellow and one green, suck plankton via their snouts.

NGS photo by Paul Zahl

Other threats to seahorses include habitat destruction because of coastal development and runoff.

A warming world could raise ocean temperatures, and also raise sea levels that could make what are now shallow seas deeper and darker. The changes could come too rapidly for many species to adapt, especially animals like seahorses which may not be able to relocate to cooler latitudes fast enough.

A pygmy sea horse pops out of its father's pouch tail first at birth.

NGS photo of seahorse by Paul Zahl

One of the rarest seahorses is the Cape seahorse, also known as the Knysna seahorse. They occur in only a small part of the coast of South Africa and are vulnerable to a major natural disaster. Watch this National Geographic video about them:

There is some good news for seahorses.

Scales reports on Project Seahorse in the Philippines as an example of artisinal fishers taking the initiative to zone off and protect ocean sanctuaries where species, including seahorses, can recover and restock adjacent fishing areas.

Cleaning up rivers has also had an important impact on seahorses. An example of this is the Thames River in England, which has recovered to the point where seahorses are being seen again as far upriver as London for the first time in many years. (Read the about this in the National Geographic News report Rare Seahorses Found in River Thames.) 

An Australian male sea horse grasps a stalk of algae with its tail.

NGS photo of seahorse by Paul Zahl

One of the most enjoyable features of "Poseidon's Steed" are the many digressions. There can be few, if any, aspects of seahorses in mythology, history, or the popular culture that Scales does not investigate.

Thorny cirri, skin branchings, sprout from a pygmy sea horse's head.

NGS photo by Paul Zahl

Everything Scales writes about is well researched and explained, and the additional details in the book's comprehensive footnotes speak not only to her academic diligence but also her journalistic professionalism to provide context and explanation.

The bibliography runs for an impressive number of pages.  I've never read a book devoted entirely to seahorses before, and I may never read another one. But I am very glad I read this one. It feels like a lucid distillation of a lot of research and careful thought.

My one disappointment with the book is that it lacks great color photography. I know from our news coverage that seahorses can make gorgeous photos. For an example of this, look at the images in SEA LIFE PHOTOS: Five New Pygmy Seahorse Species Found (captions written by Helen Scales).

I was expecting a book that dealt with many aspects of a delightful and enigmatic fish. I found all that and so much more.

Scales has provided much useful information and context for the wider issues of the long relationship we have had--and continue to have--with our oceans and the animals that live in them.

"Poseidon's Steed" takes a look at the oceans from the point of view of the seahorse, and in doing so gives us a profound appreciation of what's a stake for everything that lives in or depends on the sea, ourselves included.

Horses of Neptune by Walter Crane (1892)

You might also like these National Geographic News stories:

SEA LIFE PHOTOS: Five New Pygmy Seahorse Species Found
The Walea pygmy seahorse is one of five species named in a flurry of recent seahorse discoveries from coral reefs in the Red Sea and Indonesia. All five are less than an inch tall (2.5 centimeters) and are among the tiniest known vertebrates.

PHOTOS: Oldest Seahorses Found; Help Solve Mystery
The oldest seahorse fossils discovered to date have been uncovered in Slovenia, including a two-inch-long (five-centimeter-long) adult female Hippocampus sarmaticus fossil.

How Seahorses Evolved to Swim "Standing Up"

Seahorse in a Sea Fan (Best Photo Contest)
This exquisitely camouflaged pygmy seahorse on a sea fan in the Malaysian section of the South Pacific island of Borneo won first place prize in an amateur underwater-photography contest.

National Geographic News stories by Helen Scales:

Sharks Repelled by Metal That Creates Electric Field

Coral Reefs Vanishing Faster Than Rain Forests

SEA LIFE PHOTOS: Five New Pygmy Seahorse Species Found

Giant Shark Mystery Solved: Unexpected Hideout Found

Oceans Becoming Acidic Ten Times Faster Than Thought

Antarctic Fish "Hibernate" in Winter

Gardening Fish "Domesticate" Crops of Algae

Efforts to rebuild fisheries are starting to pay off in some places around the world, an international team of scientists with divergent views on ocean ecosystems has determined.

The study "puts into perspective recent reports predicting a total collapse of global fisheries within 40 years," the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the agency responsible for administration of U.S. fisheries, said in a statement about the research.

Photo courtesy NEFSC/NOAA

In a paper published in the July 31 issue of the journal Science, study co-author Mike Fogarty of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) of NOAA's Fisheries Service in Woods Hole, Masachusetts. and 20 co-authors say that efforts made to reduce overfishing are succeeding in five of ten large marine ecosystems studied. Some of the successes are in U.S. fisheries.

It's good news for several regions in the U.S., Iceland and New Zealand.

"These highly managed ecosystems are improving" says Ray Hilborn of the University of Washington, another author of the paper. "Yet there is still a long way to go: of all fish stocks we examined, 63 percent remained below target and still needed to be rebuilt."

But in spite of this good news, the researchers found that two thirds (68 percent) of the worldwide fisheries examined by the team "need rebuilding and that even lower rates of fish removals are needed to reverse the collapse of vulnerable species."

The researchers estimated that lightly fished and rebuilding ecosystems account for less than 10 percent of world fisheries area and catch, but represent examples of opportunities for successfully rebuilding marine resources elsewhere.

"Finding a balance between fishing and conservation, while difficult, is possible and has been accomplished in a number of fisheries."

Fogarty, head of the NEFSC's Ecosystems Assessment Program and a specialist in ecosystem based management, says finding a balance between fishing and conservation, while difficult, is possible and has been accomplished in a number of fisheries.

"Sometimes small changes have a big effect. It is not a 'one size fits all' management approach since each fishery has its own unique circumstances," Fogarty said.

"Many of the world's fisheries have a long history of overexploitation.

"Different management tools are needed, depending on the situation, to restore marine ecosystems and rebuild fisheries. It takes time. There have been successes in New Zealand and on the U.S. West Coast, and there are promising solutions in other areas, but rebuilding efforts have to be done on an ecosystem basis and from a global perspective."

The first integrated analysis for all coastal areas of the world has ranked hotspots of human impact.

The hottest hotspot is at the mouth of the Mississippi River, says Benjamin S. Halpern, lead author of the study, with the other top 10 in Asia and the Mediterranean.

Nutrient runoff from farms draining into the Mississippi has caused a persistent "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico, where the river runs into the ocean. The dead zone is caused by an overgrowth of algae that feeds on the nutrients and takes up most of the oxygen in the water.

Image by NASA

The Mississippi mouth and the other hotspots are areas where conservation efforts will almost certainly fail if they don't directly address what people are doing on land upstream from these locations, said Halpern, who is based at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) at the University of California in Santa Barbara (UCSB).

The study was published in the Journal of Conservation Letters.

Global hotspots where human activities on land are impacting coastal marine ecosystems. The numbers show the rank order of the hottest hotspots (red dots). The blue and green dots are land-based activities that are having an important effect on marine systems but not as much as those areas marked by the red dots.

Illustration courtesy B. Halpern and colleagues, NCEAS

"Resource management and conservation in coastal waters must address a litany of impacts from human activities, from the land, such as urban runoff and other types of pollution, and from the sea," Halpern said.

"One of the great challenges is to decide where and how much to allocate limited resources to tackling these problems."

"One of the great challenges is to decide where and how much to allocate limited resources to tackling these problems," he said. "Our results identify where it is absolutely imperative that land-based threats are addressed--so-called hotspots of land-based impact--and where these land-based sources of impact are minimal or can be ignored."

The study surveyed four key land-based drivers of ecological change:

• nutrient input from agriculture in urban settings
• organic pollutants derived from pesticides
• inorganic pollutants from urban runoff
• direct impact of human populations on coastal marine habitats.

Not All Coastal Waters Fully Impacted

A large portion of the world's coastlines experience very little effect of what happens on land, nearly half of the coastline and more than 90 percent of all coastal waters, Halpern said.

"This is because a vast majority of the planet's landscape drains into relatively few very large rivers, that in turn affect a small amount of coastal area.

"In these places with little impact from human activities on land, marine conservation can and needs to focus primarily on what is happening in the ocean. For example: fishing, climate change, invasive species, and commercial shipping."

Coauthors from NCEAS are Colin M. Ebert, Carrie V. Kappel, Matthew Perry, Kimberly A. Selkoe, and Shaun Walbridge. Fiorenza Micheli of Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station and Elizabeth M. P. Madin of UCSB's Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology are also co-authors. Selkoe is also affiliated with the University of Hawaii's Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology.

NCEAS is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the National Marine Sanctuaries, and an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship provided additional support for this research.

Norway's fisheries regulators have cut the 2009 catch quota for the endangered European eel by 80 percent and banned fishing of the eel completely starting next year, WWF announced today.

Will the endangered European eel be able to slip through the net of extinction, thanks to Norway's ban on catching it?

Photo copyright WWF-Canon/Rudolf Svensen.

The Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs also announced that all recreational fishing of European eels would stop tomorrow, July 1, as stock of the eels hit historically low levels and continue to decline. "The decision represents a major conservation decision that is a model for proper fisheries management," WWF-Norway said.

"This protection should have been implemented many years ago, and we are hoping that the long-overdue protection is not too late."

"A total fishing ban is the strongest measure the fisheries management can use, and when a species is critically endangered one must use the strongest and most efficient measures. This protection should have been implemented many years ago, and we are hoping that the long-overdue protection is not too late," said Norway-WWF CEO Rasmus Hansson.

Staff from Slapton Ley Field Centre & National Nature Reserve in the UK check the elver traps to see how many 'glass' eels have survived the two-year migration across the Atlantic from the Sargasso Sea.

As early as 1999, the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) stated that the eel stock was outside safe biological limits, and that the fishery was unsustainable. Yet, fishing has been ongoing for decades, despite scientific advice, WWF said in a statement.

"A successful rebuilding strategy for the eel, both in Norway and the EU, will have a substantial impact on eel numbers in Norwegian waters.

"Consequently, Norway has a great responsibility in influencing both the management and the research that is being undertaken in Europe. In Europe, fishing for eel continues, despite the very severe and depleted state of the stock," the statement added.

"WWF urges Ms Pedersen to fight for the EU taking similar bold measures in their fisheries management, and WWF will fight to stop the eel fishery in the EU," Hansson said.

Related National Geographic News stories:

Europe's Eels Are Slipping Away, Scientists Warn

One in Three European Freshwater Fish Face Extinction

Additional information:

Eel stocks dangerously close to collapse (ICES)

European Eel (USGS)

Maldives has created three new marine protected areas, including important feeding grounds for manta rays and whale sharks.

Photo by Thomas P. Peschak/Save Our Seas Foundation

The Indian Ocean archipelago country is famous as a destination for tourists seeking exotic island getaways. But it is also one of the planet's most important hotspots for many species, including whale sharks and manta rays, two of the largest and most charismatic fish.

At least 120 individual whale sharks, the world's largest fish, live in the ocean around the Maldives. The country is one of the few places in the world where whale sharks can be encountered all year round.

Mohamed Aslam, the Environment Minister of the Maldives, announced the protection of coral reefs and waters in and around Baa atoll Hanifaru, Baa atoll An'gafaru and South Ari atoll Maamigili to commemorate World Oceans Day on June 8.

Maldives image by NASA/ GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./ Japan ASTER Science Team

"The government is committed to protecting and preserving the Maldives' exceptional biodiversity," Aslam said in a statement announcing the proclamation.

"The marine environment is the bedrock of our economy, supporting our largest industries, tourism and fisheries.

"Not only will this initiative protect whale sharks and manta rays, but also other important megafauna, including reef sharks.

"The marine protected area sites are globally significant. By protecting them we are helping to protect manta rays and sharks throughout the Maldives."

Photo by Thomas P. Peschak/Save Our Seas Foundation

Apart from restrictions on fishing, the marine protected areas will permit diving and snorkeling only under strict guidelines. Speed limits will be imposed on boats to prevent lacerations to the giant fish from boat hulls and propellers, and waste management programs will be run on local islands to prevent pollution.

The initiative is spearheaded by the government, the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme and the communities of Baa atoll and South Ari atoll, according to the Maldives Environment Ministry.

NGS illustration of Hanifaru by Caitlin Sargent

The new protected areas are "one of the last places on the planet where rays and whale sharks still roam in numbers reminiscent of times gone by," said Save Our Seas Foundation (SOSF) Marine Biologist Guy Stevens, who has been doing manta ray research in the Maldives for the past five years. The National Geographic article "Feeding Frenzy" covers the work of Stevens and features photographs by SOSF chief photographer Thomas Peschak.

See photographs by Thomas P. Peschak of manta rays as they converge to feed in a spectacular coral-reef ballet:
Mantas in the Maldives >>

"Each year between May and November the tide works its magic to suck krill and other plankton into Hanifaru Bay," SOSF said in a separate statement about the new marine protected areas (MPAs). "The tiny creatures then become trapped and form an irresistibly thick soup. This delightful offering attracts manta rays from all over the Maldives and they converge here to feed in the hundreds."

Photo by Thomas P. Peschak/Save Our Seas Foundation

SOSF said the proclamation of waters around Hanifaru in the Baa atoll as a marine protected area (in the map above) was a giant step towards protecting the threatened manta rays. "This and the creation of two other MPAs, An'gafaru in the Baa atoll and Maamigili in the South Ari atoll, demonstrates the new government's forward thinking in marine conservation."

The marine protected areas are the latest in a series of environmental initiatives by President Mohamed Nasheed's administration, which assumed office after the country's first multiparty presidential election by popular vote, in November last year.

"President Nasheed deserves much praise for his push to protect these ecologically valuable marine areas in the Indian Ocean," said SOSF Director Chris Clarke. "His action protects one of the world's most vital populations of manta rays by prohibiting all forms of commercial fishing, only permitting traditional bait-fishing by local fishermen."

Earlier this year Maldives banned reef shark hunting, and Nasheed announced in March that the Maldives will become the world's first carbon-neutral country by 2020.

Photo by Thomas P. Peschak/Save Our Seas Foundation

In the world of round goby fish there are females and males ... and males.

Scientists have found the existence of two types of males of the fiercely invasive fish spreading through the Great Lakes, which may provide answers as to how they rapidly reproduce, McMaster University announced.

"Researchers ... discovered evidence that in addition to round goby males which guard the nest from predators and look after their offspring, there exists what scientists call 'sneaker' males--little males that look like females and sneak into the nests of the larger males," the Canadian university said in a statement.

The parental male is the big fish in this picture and the sneaker male is the small fish.
Photo courtesy McMaster University

The study, published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research, looks at the aggressive round goby, a bottom-dwelling fish which infested the Great Lakes watersheds around 1990."Presently, they are working their way inland through rivers and canal systems and can lead to the decline of native species through competition and predation," McMaster said.

"The existence of these two kinds of males will help scientists understand how round gobies reproduce, how quickly their populations grow, and track how these populations change over the course of invasion," said Julie Marentette, lead author and a Ph.D. student in the department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University. "This has the potential to have a significant impact on how researchers tackle what has become a very difficult problem in the Great Lakes."

Sneakier Way to Mate

Because males expend lots of energy or eat less while guarding their nests, and attracting females while providing care can be difficult, males in some species have found a sneakier way to mate, Marentette explained. "Instead of courting females and protecting the young, some males will parasitize the courtship--and sometimes the parenting duties--of conventional males. They do this by sneaking into the nests of big males or pretending to be females."

"Prior to our findings, only one type of male reproductive behaviour would have been incorporated into projections and modeling analyses of the population dynamics of round goby invasive capacities", said Sigal Balshine, associate professor in the department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour and academic advisor on the study. "Our results will shed light on how populations of this invasive species are likely to grow and spread through time and space."

Sneakers produced more sperm ... and had bigger testes

The McMaster scientists compared the physical, hormonal and sperm traits of hundreds of males, and found that the nest-guarding, parental males were big, black and had wide heads. The small female-like sneaker males were tiny, mottled brown and had narrow heads.

Both types of males produced sperm, but sneakers produced more sperm than the parental males, and had bigger testes.

By contrast, parental males have bigger glands used to produce pheromones that attract females.

Funding for the research was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Canada Fund for Innovation, the Ministry of Research and Innovation and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

The United Nations has declared today, June 8, as World Oceans Day. Are you ready to take part in it?

"While official U.N. designation is not going to change things overnight it is an important step in improving the health of our world's ocean," says The Ocean Project, a network in 75 countries of more than 900 partner zoos, aquariums, and museums, plus conservation and education organizations, agencies, and institutions.

The Ocean Project worked closely with the World Ocean Network for the last six years to promote and coordinate World Ocean Day events and activities with aquariums, zoos, museums, conservation organizations and agencies, universities, schools, and businesses. "Each year an increasing number of countries and organizations have been marking June 8 as opportunity to celebrate our world ocean and our personal connection to the sea," says The Ocean Project's Web site.

With the World Ocean Network, The Ocean Project also developed and widely circulated a petition to the United Nations urging the U.N. to recognize World Ocean Day officially .

World Oceans Day was declared by the United Nations as June 8 each year beginning in 2009. The official theme for 2009 is: "Our Oceans, Our Responsibility."

Here is the official message for World Oceans Day 2009 from U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon:

"The first observance of World Oceans Day allows us to highlight the many ways in which oceans contribute to society. It is also an opportunity to recognize the considerable challenges we face in maintaining their capacity to regulate the global climate, supply essential ecosystem services and provide sustainable livelihoods and safe recreation.

"Indeed, human activities are taking a terrible toll on the world's oceans and seas. Vulnerable marine ecosystems, such as corals, and important fisheries are being damaged by over-exploitation, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, destructive fishing practices, invasive alien species and marine pollution, especially from land-based sources. Increased sea temperatures, sea-level rise and ocean acidification caused by climate change pose a further threat to marine life, coastal and island communities and national economies.

NGS illustrations by Else Bostelmann

"Oceans are also affected by criminal activity. Piracy and armed robbery against ships threaten the lives of seafarers and the safety of international shipping, which transports 90 per cent of the world's goods. Smuggling of illegal drugs and the trafficking of persons by sea are further examples of how criminal activities threaten lives and the peace and security of the oceans.

"Several international instruments drawn up under the auspices of the United Nations address these numerous challenges. At their centre lies the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It provides the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out, and is the basis for international cooperation at all levels. In addition to aiming at universal participation, the world must do more to implement this Convention and to uphold the rule of law on the seas and oceans.

"The theme of World Oceans Day, "Our oceans, our responsibility", emphasizes our individual and collective duty to protect the marine environment and carefully manage its resources. Safe, healthy and productive seas and oceans are integral to human well-being, economic security and sustainable development."

Biologists have discovered that amphibian diseases are spread by bait shops.

National Science Foundation illustration by Nicolle Rager-Fuller

Salamander larvae sold as live bait for freshwater fishing may be spreading amphibian diseases, including the chytrid fungus that is killing many of the world's frogs, the National Science Foundation says.

Waterdogs, as the larvae of tiger salamanders are called, are used to catch largemouth bass, channel catfish and other freshwater fishes.

Fishers may be in for more than they bargained for, the NSF said in a statement released yesterday. "Salamanders in bait shops in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico are infected with ranaviruses, and those in Arizona, with a chytrid fungus called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd)."

These diseases have spread with the global trade in amphibians, says James Collins, assistant director for biological sciences at the NSF. Collins is currently on leave from Arizona State University. "The commercial amphibian bait trade may be a source of 'pathogen pollution,'" he says in the NSF news release. Pathogens are disease-causing agents such as some viruses and bacteria.

The scientists also organized bait-shop surveys to determine whether tiger salamanders are released back into the wild after being housed in shops, the NSF says.

A majority of anglers--as high as 73 percent--in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico uses waterdogs as bait.

Photo by Angela Picco, ASU

"We found that all tiger salamanders that ended up in the bait trade were originally collected from the wild," says Picco. "In general, they were moved from east to west and north to south--bringing with them multiple ranavirus strains."

Results of the research show that 26 to 73 percent of fishers used tiger salamanders as bait; 26 to 67 percent of anglers released tiger salamanders bought as bait into fishing waters; and 4 percent of bait shops put salamanders back in the wild after the waterdogs were housed with infected animals.

"The tiger salamander bait trade in the western U.S. is a good model for understanding the consequences of unregulated movement of amphibians and their pathogens," says Collins.

Examples of pathogen pollution are many and dramatic, the NSF statement says.

The majority of threatened species are found in South Africa, largely reflecting the greater levels of development activity here when compared to other countries in the region, IUCN said in a report released at the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul, Turkey.

In collaboration with the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) and the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), IUCN conducted a regional assessment of the status and distribution of 1,279 freshwater fishes, molluscs, insects, crabs, and selected families of aquatic plants from across southern Africa.

Basket fishing in Zambia photo by Denis Tweddle/SAIAB

"This level of threat may appear low relative to other taxonomic groups but, following comparison with similar studies in other parts of the world, the level of threat is predicted to increase dramatically unless the ecological requirements of freshwater species are given much greater consideration in future development planning, in particular for development of water resources such as for improved water supply, irrigation and provision of hydro-electric power."

It is only relatively recently that it has dawned upon humans that the ocean is not something that can be taken for granted.

Vast, deep, unfathomable in so many ways, the great body of liquid that envelops our planet at an average depth of some six miles acts as the main regulator of our weather and climate, generator of our atmosphere, and provider, directly and indirectly, of our food and freshwater.

As we begin to grasp how totally dependent we are on the sea for our survival, so do we also understand how much we have harmed it.

"We have learned more about the ocean in the last half century than in all of preceding history," says Sylvia Earle, marine biologist and co-author of National Geographic's new book, "Ocean: An Illustrated Atlas."

But at the same time, more has changed, she told me. "We have lost more than 90 percent of the big fish in the sea and many of the smaller ones too. Half the coral reefs are gone or in serious decline. There are an amazing number of dead zones. That's the bad news.

"The good news: Now we know. It's only when we know that we can care and act to secure for ourselves an enduring place within the natural systems that sustain us."

NGS photo

Sand-fleas such as Hyperoche capucinus, are common predators swimming in polar waters. This specimen is about the width of a finger.

Russ Hopcroft, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Census of Marine Life.

Earth's unique, forbidding ice oceans of the Arctic and Antarctic have revealed secrets to explorers, who were especially surprised to find at least 235 species live in both polar seas despite a distance of more than 7,000-mile (13,000-kilometer) distance in between, the Census of Marine Life (CoML) project announced today.

DNA analysis is underway to confirm whether the species are indeed identical.

Among many other findings, the scientists also documented evidence of cold water-loving species shifting towards both poles to escape rising ocean temperatures.

The discoveries are the result of a series of voyages conducted during International Polar Year, 2007-2008.

The studies by a global network of polar researchers have added substantially to human knowledge about the diversity, distribution and abundance of marine life, with results to be fully detailed in the world's first Census report, to be released in London October 4, 2010.

"The polar seas, far from being biological deserts, teem with an amazing quantity and variety of life," said Ian Poiner, chair of the Census Scientific Steering Committee. "Only through the co-operation of 500 people from more than 25 countries could the daunting environmental challenges be overcome to produce research of such unprecedented scale and importance. And humanity is only starting to understand the nature of these regions."

Census researchers last year established that several octopus types have repeatedly colonized the deep sea, each migration coinciding with retreating Antarctic ice over 30 million years.

Russ Hopcroft, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Census of Marine Life.

"Today they theorize that the Antarctic also regularly refreshes the world's oceans with new varieties of sea spiders, isopods (crustaceans related to shrimp and crabs), and others as well. They believe the new species evolve when expansions of ice cloister Antarctica; when the ice retreats, they radiate northward along the same pathways followed by the octopuses," the CoML release said.

Russ Hopcroft, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Census of Marine Life.

More from National Geographic News:

PHOTOS: Odd, Identical Species Found at Both Poles

PHOTOS: New Deep-Sea Species Revealed by Marine Census

Ocean Life Survey Reveals World of Deep-Sea Creatures

Photo of two sea lampreys by Daymon J Hartley/Courtesy MSU

A synthetic chemical version of what male sea lampreys use to attract spawning females can lure them into traps and foil the mating process of the destructive invasive species, Michigan State University scientists say.

"The pheromone is expensive to synthesize," said Weiming Li, MSU professor of fisheries and wildlife. "But only a very small amount is needed for it to work successfully. It's very potent. Only a few hundred grams, less than a pound, would be used each year."

Sea lampreys are a scourge in the Great Lakes of the U.S., where they have no natural predators. They live in both salt and fresh water and likely found their way into the Great Lakes via shipping channels.

NGS photo of sea lampreys attacking Great Lakes fish by James L. Amos

Nile Delta vegetable farmer photo by Dean Conger/NGS

The coastal Mediterranean fishery off the Nile Delta has expanded dramatically since the 1980s, thanks to run-off of fertilizers and sewage discharges in the region, according to a researcher at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography.

Autumn Oczkowski, a URI doctoral student, used stable isotopes of nitrogen to demonstrate that 60 to 100 percent of the current fishery production is supported by nutrients from fertilizer and sewage, according to a university news statement.

Her research is reported today in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Photo courtesy Enric Sala

Three new marine national monuments proclaimed by President Bush today won him a standing ovation in the final weeks of his Presidency.

"These locations are truly among the last pristine areas in the marine environment on earth," Chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality James Connaughton said in a media call yesterday.

"We should be very happy because it's the largest marine area ever protected," said Enric Sala, a marine ecologist and National Geographic fellow and emerging explorer. "We don't need more research to know that more of these remote intact places need to be protected," he told National Geographic News.

Sala helped conduct the only scientific surveys of the Pacific region, particularly in the pristine Kingman Reef., one of the areas protected in today's proclamation. Some of the pictures he made at Kingman are featured in this blog post.

Stefan Lovgren (right) and Zeb Hogan in Mongolia, holding a taimen.

Photo courtesy Stefan Lovgren

National Geographic News contributor Stefan Lovgren is the winner of this year's AAAS Science Journalism Award in the online media category.

Presented by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world's largest general scientific society, the award was given to Lovgren for a three-part series of articles about the Megafishes Project, an effort led by conservation biologist and National Geographic Emerging Explorer Zeb Hogan to study and document the world's largest freshwater fish.

Lovgren traveled with Hogan to Mongolia, China, Cambodia, and other locations to better understand the river titans that are critically endangered due to overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution and global warming -- and what can be done to protect these amazing creatures.

Porbeagle shark Lamna nasus (Global Red List Assessment: Vulnerable;

Sub-population Red List assessment for the Northeast Atlantic: Critically Endangered)

Joining the long list of species heading toward extinction are 26 percent of northeast Atlantic sharks, rays and chimaeras, according to an assessment by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Another 20 percent are in the Near Threatened category.

"The total number of threatened species may well be higher as there was insufficient information to assess more than a quarter (27 percent) of the species," according to a report released today by the IUCN Shark Specialist Group (SSG).

Photo James L. Stanfield/NGS

World fisheries are underperforming to the tune of $50 billion a year, according to a joint report of the World Bank and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

$2 trillion, about equal to the gross domestic product of Italy, has been forfeited in lost productivity over the past three decades, according to the study "The Sunken Billions: The Economic Justification for Fisheries Reform."

At the heart of the problem is over-exploitation of fisheries and massive over-investment in the global fishing fleet chasing dwindling stocks -- a dying industry propped up by government subsidies.

Photograph of the newly discovered Australian reticulate swell shark Cephaloscyllium hiscosellum courtesy CSIRO

Marine biologist Sylvia Earle is fond of saying that a teaspoon of ocean water brims with life. She once told me that the sea is full of animals yet to be discovered. That we know less about the ocean floor than we do about the solar system.

I'm mindful of these words whenever we publish news about discoveries in the oceans. Finds seem to be announced almost every week. Some of the most popular stories we have published have been about giant squid or strange new species of fish.

Photo Joel Sartore/NGS

In a remote neck of Canada's backwoods the deer catch a break during the fall. That's when the wolves go fishing.

"Although most people imagine wolves chasing deer and other hoofed animals, new research suggests that, when they can, wolves actually prefer fishing to hunting," researchers from the University of Victoria and the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Canada, announced this week.

The study, published in the journal BMC Ecology and funded in part by the National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration, shows that when salmon is available, wolves will reduce deer hunting activity and instead focus on seafood.

Like many of its prey, lampreys spend their early lives in rivers, where they are more protected than in the sea.

Scientists assumed that lampreys behave like other fish that return for breeding to the river where they were spawned. But this is not the case, new genetic research suggests.