By Emmanuel T. Erediano
Variety News Staff

NEW coral species are still being discovered here, according to Division of Environmental Quality’s marine biologist Peter Houk.
Houk was among the presenters at the recently held DEQ environmental expo in the Joeten-Kiyu Library in Susupe,.
Together with other environmentalists from Coastal Resource Management, Houk gave the participating students information about coral and other forms of marine life.
He said they want the students to understand the circulation patterns of diversity in the Pacific Ocean.
According to Houk, they told students that coral is both an animal and a plant which takes 70 percent of the food that algae produce.
Coral, he added, travels from one place to another, with its very strong “chemical cue” or sense of smell.
He said they were also able to teach the children about ways to protect the coral.
Houk said the CNMI has 268 species of coral most of which are found in the Northern Islands. This is more than five times the number of species found in Hawaii, he added.
He said whenever they conduct research, which is every two years, they discover new species of coral.
They have yet to name some of these new species which will require a lot of paper work, he added.
They discovered the first new species in 2005 while they were working with the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Houk said.
The new species they discovered will be included in a new book, “Corals of the Marianas,” that is expected to come out soon on Guam, he added.