A new species of fish has been identified from a museum collection in Sydney, Australia. The researchers at the Australian Museum hope that this discovery will help inform future conservation efforts and species management.
Within the museum's collection are two types of colorful goby dartfish, which were previously considered to be of the same species, Nemateleotris helfrichi. "We've long suspected that they actually represent two separate, distinct species, but we've only now been able to publish about it," Yi-Kai Tea, the Australia Museum's Chadwick Biodiversity Research Fellow who lead the study with Helen Larson, told Newsweek.
After analyzing the physical and genetic differences between the fishes using museum collections all over the world and live underwater photographs, Tea and colleagues were able to confirm that they were indeed different species.
"The two species differ primarily in the color of their head, snouts, and upper jaw," Tea said. "Nemateleotris helfrichi has a very characteristic black mark on its upper jaw, which, together with its very upturned mouth, makes it look like it's sporting a mustache. The new species, Nemateleotris lavandula, lacks this black mark altogether. It also has a much yellower head and about compared to N. helfrichi."
Tea said that the new species was named Lavandula after the "beautiful coloration" of the fish.
As well as distinct physical differences, the two species do not occupy the same geographical areas. "Nemateleotris helfrichi is found in the French Polynesian Islands in the southeastern Pacific Ocean," Tea said. "Nemateleotris lavandula is found in the western and central Pacific, including northeastern Australia."
In other words, the newly described species, Nemateleotris lavandula, is restricted to a much smaller area than was previously thought. "This is a classic example of how taxonomy can have a profound influence on biodiversity and species management," Tea said. "Suddenly we went from one very widespread species all across the Pacific Ocean, to two species, but one that is narrowly endemic to a few islands in the French Polynesia.
"Without careful taxonomy we would have never known that there were two species hidden under one name. Now that we do, we can re-assess their distributions, their statuses, and where to go from here. Putting a name to something is the first and most important step towards conservation. You cannot protect what we don't know exist."
Tea said that it was not unusual for new species to be discovered from museum collections, like this spider.
"Museums serve as a remarkable archive of natural history collections that date back to the 1800s. Some specimens will therefore represent new species, or species that have their identities mixed up. It is always fun going through a collection, recognizing these discrepancies, and solving the problem through careful taxonomic work."
The study was published in the Raffles Bulletin of Zoology on March 17.
You can find Tea at @FishGuyKai on Twitter and @KaiTheFishGuy on Instagram.
References
Tea, Y-K. and Larson, H.K. Synopsis of the ptereleotrine goby genus Nemateleotris, with description of a new species from the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (Teleostei: Gobiidae). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, March 17 2023, DOI: 10.26107/RBZ-2023-0019
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