An expedition to a tiny island in the South Pacific’s Republic of Vanatu has yielded hundreds of new species, including possibly 1000 new species of crab.

Squat lobster
153 scientists from 20 countries participated in the survey of Espiritu Santo in the South Pacific, scouring caves, mountains, reefs, shallows, and forests collecting species. Out of over 10,000 species collected, the researchers are predicting that as many as 2000 may be previously unknown to the scientific community. Some pics from the National Geographic story are below, but we encourage you to visit this article and this article for more in depth descriptions of the creatures.

Pink limpet snails

Sundial snail (already known to science, but too sweet to leave out)
Many, many, many more pics below the fold…

Cicada

Sea snail

Different squat lobster

Snapping shrimp
And now for the crabs….

Pom pom or boxer crab

Unidentified crab

Coral guard crab

Common hairy crab

Two horn box crab

Spider crab

Feather star crab