Opistognathus trimaculatus is a new species of jawfish from Japan that was discovered in the famous Tosa Bay. This bay in the Kochi Prefecture of southern Japan is also the namesake of the incredible Tosanoides anthias which are highly sought after, and it now has given us a new jawfish to add to the catalog of interesting marine fish.
The new jawfish was actually described as Opistognathus trimaculatus back in 2013 but we’ve only recently gotten our hands on a copy of the original description. Many species of jawfish have an eyespot in their dorsal fin but Opistognathus trimaculatus, as the name implies, is distinguished by the presence of three black spots at the base of the dorsal fin.
Unfortunately, very little is known about the new three spot jawfish as it was recognized as being undescribed from preserved specimens in the fish collection of the Laboratory of Marine Biology, Faculty of Science, Kochi University. Besides the collection location of Tosa Bay, the only other thing we know about this species is that it was collected from depths between 150 to 200 meters (492 to 656 feet) deep. [BNMNS]
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