25 New Shark Species Found In Negros

July, 7 1999 - Release from: Alex V. Pal [Philippine Daily Inquirer Visayas Bureau]

Dumaguete City -- Local fishermen had been catching them for years, even for generations. But little did they know that some of the little sharks in their harvest could have earned for them a moment of fame in scientific books. After studying shark specimens collected for five months, scientists have learned that about 25 species have yet to be given names. The first such study on elasmobranchs sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund could put Dumaguete on the scientific map after Australian scientists confirmed the discovery. Dr. Peter Last and Dr. John Stevens, two of the world's foremost authorities on sharks, were here last month to identify the species gathered by the WWF team. They brought back samples of the 25 species to check their identities from samples of previously known species.

Mae Luchavez-Maypa, WWF coordinator based at the Silliman University Marine Laboratory, said the unusually big number of erstwhile unknown species could not be explained because no study had been conducted before. The WWF is currently doing several studies on sharks and rays in the Philippines.

BUT PLEASE NOTE - John Stevens writes: "Don't believe everything you see in the papers! There are new chondrichthyan taxa in the Philippines but we have more work to do yet before we know how many. There are some 25 species in the collection which we cannot currently put definate names on. Many of these specimens will have to be compared to material from other areas. The newspaper some how got hold of this and twisted it around."