Although known to exist for over 20 years and even referenced quite a few times here at Reef Builders, a new species of deep-water butterflyfish from the mesophotic reefs of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument was finally described today by researchers from NOAA and the Bishop Museum. The researchers used specimens collected in 2009 and again in 2015 for the paper.
This fish was namedPrognathodes basabei在皮特·巴贝贝(Pete Basabe)之后,一位资深人士,经历了科纳(Kona)的当地潜水员,他为许多科学研究和教育展示提供了帮助。Basabe是支持产生这种新鱼类的第一批标本的潜水的关键,今天在今天正式描述scientific journal ZooKeys.
“Butterflyfish are the glamour fish of the coral reefs,” saidRichard Pyle,博物馆主教科学家和该出版物的首席作者。“它们是色彩缤纷,美丽的,并且在全球范围内经过了很好的研究。寻找一种新的蝴蝶鱼是罕见的事件。”新万博苹果
根据phsy.org上的一篇文章,该物种是在20年前在载人潜艇上的摄像机上观察到的,但是由于该物种是在20年前从载人潜水物中拍摄的视频中首次观察到的,因此深度很高。600英尺。当时,夏威夷大学海洋生物学家E.H.“ Deetsie” Chave认为这是一种潜在的新物种。但是,潜水技术并不存在,无法仔细观察。
It was often referred to as orangemargin or orange margin butterflyfish, and was listed on John E. Randall’s “Reef and shore fishes of the Hawaiian Islands” 2007年的书。但是直到今天,正式的描述和官方名称才会发布。
Collected on reef in the mesophotic “twilight zone,” typically on depths of 150 to 500 feet, these ecosystems are proving to be a new frontier of reef exploration. In the past, they were too deep for most scuba divers to explore and were shallower than most of the submarine-based exploration, but recent technological advances, such as electronic closed-circuit rebreathers, scientists are able to collect and preserve specimens like these.
“Discoveries such as this underscore how poorly explored and how little we know about our deep coral reefs,” said Randall Kosaki, NOAA scientist and co-author of the study. “Virtually every deep dive we do takes place on a reef that no human being has ever seen.”
Besides the specimens collected for this description, researchers have encountered this new butterfly fish frequently on deep-water dives up to 330, according to the article. In fact, live specimens of the new butterflyfish were collected on a NOAA expedition to Papahanaumokuakea in June of this year and are on display at Bishop Museum in Honolulu and at the Mokup?papa Discovery Center in Hilo. An additional specimen is on display in the Deep Reef exhibit at the Waikiki Aquarium.
[通过phsy.org]