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"Our study represents important progress towards understanding the evolution and biodiversity of corals and provides a foundation for future work. Since coral ecosystems are increasingly threatened, there is a need to characterize and understand coral species in terms of interbreeding groups as opposed to nominal morphological units", said Zac Forsman, who led a team of researchers from the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology carrying out the molecular studies.

These findings indicate that MR (Marine Reserve) protection can result in more and bigger individuals soon after the establishment of the MR. Focused comparison tests did not reveal any relationship between rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) or blue cod (Parapercis colias) size or abundance and either age or area of MRs.

“This discovery gives us great hope that there is a future for Irrawaddy dolphins,” said WCS researcher Brian D. Smith, who led the study. “Bangladesh clearly serves as an important sanctuary for Irrawaddy dolphins, and conservation in this region should be a top priority.”

The scientists counted nearly 6,000 of the dolphins in the South Asian country’s Sundarbans mangrove forest and the adjacent waters of the Bay of Bengal.

The mangrove rivulus, also known as the mangrove killifish, is native to the Americas and is about five centimetres (two inches) long.

The fish has long been studied for its many unique features. It's the only vertebrate known to naturally self-fertilize, for example. In some populations, it can become a hermaphrodite, developing both male and female parts simultaneously, to produce clones of itself.

As one of the eight new natural sites that have been added to the World Heritage List, following IUCN’s recommendations you find the Socotra Archipelago in Yemen. Socotra is a small archipelago of four islands and islets in the Indian Ocean off the coast of the Horn of Africa some 190 nautical miles (220 mi/350 km) south of the Arabian peninsula. It is a part of the 'Adan Governorate of the Republic of Yemen.

Costa Rica hosts an active industry for collection activities on marine ornamental reef fish for the international aquarium fish trade. Little is known about the effects of collection activities on target species in Costa Rica. However, research elsewhere gives reason for concern about collecting activity rainbow wrasse (Thalassoma lucasanum) is an important species in this fishery.

Whale sharks are a species that is declining, and there is limited biological data available about them. Although these animals are protected in many areas, they are still being legally and illegally fished in some countries. It is important to gather baseline biological and ecological data in order to develop an effective conservation plan for whale sharks.

It is not known, for example, whether the whale shark is represented by a single worldwide panmictic population or by numerous, reproductively isolated populations.

The diving centres on the black list have not complied to standards EN 14467/ISO 24803 for Recreational Diving Services and will not be able to renew their license from the Ministry of Tourism and therefore will be operating illegally.

The auditing process to check that diving centres are meeting these standards began in May 2008 and by 31st March 2009 was completed in South Sinai and will continue to 31st July 2009 in the Hurghada area. Steps will then be put into action to close down illegal operations that fail to comply.

In the case of cod in the North Sea, eastern channel and Skagerrak...things took a turn for the worse in 2008, when a greater proportion of the stock was caught than in any year since 1999," the European Commission said in a statement.

"We are not that far away from a situation of complete collapse," said Jose Rodriguez, a marine biologist with the environmental group Oceana.

Conservation measures for desperately depleted cod have not delivered the promised revival of supplies – partly because of continued over-fishing exceeding agreed quota limits.

Trauma to the spinal cord often results in the deterioration of cell membranes, which then results in cell and tissue death, often leading to paralysis. One way to help eliminate loss of body functions is to seal the deteriorating cell membranes, researchers suggest.

Crab shells

Chitin -- the main component of crustacean exoskeletons and fungi cell walls, previously used to build scaffolding for tissue growth -- has recently been suggested to stimulate spinal cord regeneration in rats.