HONG KONG, Jan. 5 -- Hong Kong's busy urban waters have revealed a colourful surprise, with marine biologists discovering two previously unknown soft coral species just offshore.

Researchers from Hong Kong Baptist University identified the new species, named Parasphaerasclera dimorpha sp novand Paraminabea inflata sp nov, in waters off Hong Kong and neighbouring Zhuhai.

"Our research highlights the value of integrative taxonomy in identifying soft corals with similar appearance and provides new mitochondrial genomic resources to advance their taxonomy in the Indo-Pacific" Professor Qiu Jianwen, the research team leader said in a press statement on the university's website today.

The team collected coral samples from rocky reefs at dept...