Hidden realms

CRUISING IN SCUBA GEAR 20m beneath the ocean’s surface, examining clump after clump of fist-sized ‘reef bursts’, as I call them, is a meditative pursuit. These tiny patches of habitat on coral reef walls, on the outermost seaward slopes of reefs, include sea squirts, hydroids and miniature pink tubular sponges. After half an hour of searching in these waters off the Indonesian island of Seram, I spot a pair of comic googly eyes peering up at me from a kaleidoscopic melange of reef organisms. This is Lynne’s pipefish–cocktail-stick sized and associated only with clumps of particular sponges, which it mimics in colour and texture. It’s just one of many remarkable specialist coral reef species discovered recently.

MANY THOUSANDS OF species are supported by coral reefs–Earth’s most biodiverse marine ecosystems. Some are conspicuous and easily