It is off the coast of Thailand, another colorful land of marine life discovered. Spanning several hundred acres and teeming with fish, it is a coral reef. And the World Wide Fund for Nature said Wednesday that it should be given protected status.
This is no discovery by a scientist or a marine diver. The new marine world is tipped off by local fishermen. The WWF divers in January found what they say is a healthy, 667-acre reef in southern Thailand. It is treasured with over 30 genera of hard corals, and at least 112 species of fish.
A type of parrot fish first discovered in Sri Lanka and never before seen in Thailand, and a species of the sweet lips fish previously only found in the Similan Islands, are among the fish species identified, the WWF said