Pacific Island Aquatics recently brought in this curious looking anthias rumored to have come from Kiribati Islands at 245ft. While the fish bears a striking resemblance to Pseudanthias randalli, it is pretty obvious that it is not. First off the range of P. randalli does not extend to Kiribati. The solid yellow ventral and dorsal fins too does not tally with that of P. randalli as well. The anthias we’re looking at here could be a new species, or a new variation.
Information is sketchy as of now and we’re uncertain of its true identity. It could be a new species, a hybrid, a new variation or simply just a geographical color form. However seeing the strong resemblance it bears to P. randalli and P. pulcherrimus, it could also very well be a new sister species to the two. John E. Randall reckons that it could be similar to, if not, Pseudanthias flavicauda from Fiji. But man that stripe across the body and the deep yellow pelvic fins on our “Randall’s anthias wannabe” is just too different don’t you think?
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