伪造hangapikois a new species of anthias from the South Pacific region of Rapa Nui, better known as Easter Island. The hangapiko anthias was discovered way back in 2017 during an expedition toexplore the mesophotic reefs of Easter Island还发现了许多其他物种的地方basslet, adamselfish, asplit fin anthias, many of which have already received the taxonomic treatment.
As we’ve come to expect from the California Academy of Sciences the newly described伪造hangapikowas discovered living on deeper reefs at a depth of 83 meters or 272 feet and it probably represents just the tip of the iceberg of endemic fish from mesophotic reefs of Rapa Nui. The new hangapiko anthias is a little on the smaller side with a maximum length of around 45 mm with most of the female specimens hovering around 33 mm, not including the nice lunate caudal fin.
The females of伪造hangapikoare quite distinctive in their appearance with a silvery pink body that is bisected by a prominent red dorsal stripe extending from the snout all the way through the dorsal fin to the tail. At first glance the male hangapiko anthias is a little more typically orange overall but both sexes have unique magenta spots irregularly spaced across the body.
细长的身体伪造hangapikois most similar to other Pacific oceanPseudanthias包括腹膜和夏威夷长鳍anthias在内的物种,通过对其遗传学的分子分析支持。发现伪造hangapikoat Rapa Nui extended the range of thePseudanthiasgenus by 2,000 kilometers to the east and now that taxonomists are all caught up with their discoveries from Easter Island, we anxiously await to discover where mesophotic researchers will explore next.