sized seahorse, a “ghost” slug and the world's smallest snake measuring just 104 mm (4.1 inches) were among the top 10 new species discovered in 2008, according to a committee of international scientists. The International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University and an international committee of taxonomists compiled the list from thousands of species found across the globe last year. Also in the top 10 were a caffeine-free coffee plant from Cameroon, a bacteria that lives in hairspray found by Japanese scientists, a gigantic palm from Madagascar that flowers itself to death, and a deep blue damselfish. Rounding out the 10 were a snail with a shell that twists around four axes found in limestone hills in Malaysia, the world's longest insect from Borneo that stretches 56.7 cms (22.3 inches) and looks like a twig, and a fossilized specimen of the oldest known life-bearing vertebrate from Western Australia. Quentin Wheeler, an entomologist and director of the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University, said the list helped draw attention to biodiversity, the field of taxonomy, and the importance of natural history museums and botanical gardens in a fun way. Among the top 10 picks was a tiny seahorse - or Hippocampus satomiae - with a standard length of 13.8 mms and a height of 11.5 mms. This pygmy species was found near Derawan Island off Kalimantan, Indonesia. The name - satomiae - was given to the seahorse after Satomi Onishi, the dive guide who collected the type specimens. The world's smallest snake, the Barbados Threadsnake, was found in St. Joseph Parish in Barbados.
