Friday, May 6, 2011

World Ocean Day Celebration:
Name a New Species of Deep-Sea Worms Discovered by Scripps Oceanography Scientists

The public and a K-12 school will choose the official name of the new species

Scripps Institution of Oceanography / University of California, San Diego

Celebrate World Ocean Day by helping Birch Aquarium at Scripps and researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, name two new species of deep-sea marine worms. One name will be selected from the public at large and another will be chosen from a K-12 school.

Suggestions can be submitted through May 25 on Birch Aquarium's website or at the aquarium during its monthly SEA Days event on May 21. Scientists from the Scripps Marine Invertebrate Phylogenetics Lab, which identified the new species, will select three finalists for each worm. Beginning May 30, the public can vote for their favorite names online or at the aquarium during a pre-World Ocean Day celebration on June 4. The chosen names will be revealed online and at the aquarium on World Ocean Day, June 8, and will become the official scientific name of the species.

Scripps scientists, in association with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, discovered the worms living upon whale carcasses that had fallen to the ocean floor off Monterey, Calif. These "whale falls" spawn unique communities of marine animals that can feed off the carcass for decades. The worms, which measure only a few centimeters in length, are part of the family Hesionidae. Only 10 hesionids have been described from the deep sea, and only one has been described from a whale fall. In total, Scripps scientists discovered six new species of worms on whale falls.

Traditionally, the person who first describes a newfound plant or animal is entitled to name it, but Scripps is inviting the public to share in the process. Naming a species is the exciting culmination of years of work and collaboration, and specific guidelines exist for how to name a new species. According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a species must be given a Latin binomial - a name consisting of two parts (a genus term and a species term) - and a researcher must publish an official description of the species in scientific literature. The public is being asked to follow these naming guidelines, as well as provide a description of how they came up with their suggestion, which will be included in the published paper.

Scientists can use geographic, descriptive, commemorative or even nonsense words to form a new species name. Names do not need to be direct Latin translations. For example, a species of fly from Humbug Creek, Calif. was named Apolysis humbugi. A scientist who loved "Star Wars" named a species of wasp Polemistus chewbacca.

"We are thrilled to involve the public in the exciting process that scientists follow when naming a new species," said Nigella Hillgarth, aquarium executive director. "We feel this opportunity is especially fitting for World Ocean Day, which celebrates diversity in the oceans."

First envisioned in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, World Ocean Day is an annual opportunity to honor our ocean and personal connection to the sea.

Click here for more information about the new deep-sea worms and to submit a suggested name.

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About Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California, San Diego, is one of the oldest, largest and most important centers for global science research and education in the world. Now in its second century of discovery, the scientific scope of the institution has grown to include biological, physical, chemical, geological, geophysical and atmospheric studies of the earth as a system. Hundreds of research programs covering a wide range of scientific areas are under way today in 65 countries. The institution has a staff of about 1,400, and annual expenditures of approximately $170 million from federal, state and private sources. Scripps operates robotic networks, and one of the largest U.S. academic fleets with four oceanographic research ships and one research platform for worldwide exploration. Birch Aquarium at Scripps serves as the interpretive center of the institution and showcases Scripps research and a diverse array of marine life through exhibits and programming for more than 415,000 visitors each year. Learn more at scripps.ucsd.edu.

About UC San Diego
Fifty years ago, the founders of the University of California, San Diego, had one criterion for the campus: It must be distinctive. Since then, UC San Diego has achieved the extraordinary in education, research and innovation. Sixteen Nobel laureates have taught on campus; stellar faculty members have been awarded Fields Medals, Pulitzer Prizes, McArthur Fellowships and many other honors. UC San Diego-recognized as one of the top ten public universities by U.S. News & World Report and named by the Washington Monthly as number one in the nation in rankings measuring "what colleges are doing for the country"- is widely acknowledged for its local impact, national influence and global reach. UC San Diego is celebrating 50 years of visionaries, innovators and overachievers.
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