Odontanthias is a popular genus of deepwater reef fish that includes the Borbonius and Yellow Fin Anthias. Odontanthias is so far only known from the Indian and Pacific Ocean but the unusual fish from Puerto Rico pictured above is a very exciting find. In a very surprising turn of events, it seems the genus Odontanthias has made its first ever Atlantic appearance. One might guess that due to its collection area relatively near Puerto Rico there is a possibility that it might have originated from a hobbyist having long ago released Odontanthias species into non-native waters, but this specimen is unlike any fish ever seen before.
The information about this unusual deepwater anthias comes through Puerto Rico Spearfishing Charters Captain Roberto Reyes, who was initially forwarded the photo of this unique find for identification, he states
Acording to Dr John E (Jack) Randall in Hawaii, he’s considered to be the world’s authority on tropical fish and has described 550 new species, the fish in question is a new species of the genus Odontanthias, the first record of the genus for the Atlantic (Caribbean).
Dr. Matt Craig, an expert Ichthyologist in Puerto Rico. Drs. William Anderson and Graciela Gracia-Moliner is describing the new Odontanthias species. No news on when or if this new species might hit the hobby, first it needs to be determined exactly where this fish was caught. Fortunately the countries in which it is likely to be found do regularly export fish to the US. While dangerous to collect due to the depths in which Odontanthias is found, of all the new fish species we’ve been seeing lately this could be the most likely to reach the hobby.
