Luzonichthys seaver is a new species of splitfin anthias that has just been described from two specimens collected in Pohnpei Micronesia. The splitfin anthias are an uncommon group of fishes in the marine aquarium hobby whose number of recognized species just grew to seven with the induction of Luzonichthys seaver.
The newly described Luzonichthys seaver was documented from only two specimens collected at a depth of between 90 and 100 meters, 295 and 330 feet, and in pictures appears to be one of the most attractive members of the genus yet. Seaver’s splitfin anthias has a head that is predominantly yellow gradually fading into a pink coloration over the body, with some of the intermediate scales being pink with yellow margins, and culminating into two bright pink spots at the base of the tail. The new Luzonichthys seaver appears to be most closely related to earle’s splitfin anthias, Luzonichthys earlei.
Not to be confused with the genus Rabaulichthys, the members of the Luzonichthys genus are more slender than Rabaulichthys, they do not show the extra high anterior dorsal fin of that genus, instead having a dorsal that is separated into the spinous and soft regions (hence the ‘splitfin’ moniker), and also showing no discernible sexual differences between the species. Splitfin anthias are much more delicate and sensitive than other genera of anthias and are therefore only recommended for advanced fish aquarium keepers.
The new species of splitfin anthias is described by Copus, Ka’apu-Lyons & Pyle in the April 2015 edition of Biodiversity Data journal.
