Grammatonotus brianne is the latest species of deepwater anthias basslet to be described, having been discovered from profound depths in one of the epicenters of the Coral Triangle. The new spade-tailed Grammatonotus brianne was collected by expedition members of the California Academy of Sciences and the Bishop Museum while surveying deep mesophotic reefs in the Philippines.
The uniquely colored and shaped fish was instantly recognized as a new species, with a big, beautiful tail that is more reminiscent of a South American Apistogramma dwarf cichlid than a marine fish. The newly described Grammatonotus brianne has a delicate lemon-yellow coloration over most of the body and fins, with a vivid magenta shading to the upper half of the body alone.
There are only a few other species in the genus Grammatonotus, all of whom are restricted to very deep waters, usually beyond 300 feet and sometimes as deep as 1,000 feet. Grammatonotus brianne was collected at a depth of 150 meters, 492 feet, off the coast of Batangas in Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines.
The four specimens used in the description of the new basslet species ranged in size from 72 to 84 mm, 2.75 to 3.25 inches standard length, although the elongated tail fin adds significantly to the total length of this fish. Grammatonotus brianne is named in honor of Brianne Atwood, and is described by Anderson, Greene & Rocha in the most recent volume of ZooTaxa.
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