2016 was chock full of new species of reef fish, more than any other year in recent memories. We had new species of wrasse, Anthias, basslets and of course, plenty of gobies but in contrast to other years, these didn’t absolutely overwhelm the more exciting species of reef fish.
This year was a special not just for the number and diversity of reef fish that were described. To be clear, there were way more than 10 cool new species of fish described this year. But we selected a nice ten-pack which each have a cool story to tell, either about themselves, or about what we know of them. Some species were described in pairs, and in those cases the most attractive, interesting, or unique fish was selected to be one of the year’s ten best.
We hope that this uptick in newly described, tropical marine fish is a sign of things to come, and that humans are truly exploring the planet more, and in the process making more discoveries. Hopefully 2017 will usher in a similarly bountiful crop of new fish species, because we love knowing that there still plenty of reef life left to discover.
Terelabrus flavocephalus, third candy hogfish finally gets described
Cirrhilabrus isosceles finally gives the pintail fairy wrasse a name
Synchiropus sycorax Is The New Official Name of the Ruby Red Dragonet
Bodianus bennetti is the newest species of hogfish from the South Pacific
Pseudojuloides labyrinthus, a sexy new pencil wrasse from Kenya
Cirrhilabrus rubeus & C. africanus Are The Two Newest Species of Fairy Wrasse
Paracheilinus alfiani, P. paineorum & P. xanthocirritus, three new flasher wrasses
Plectranthias takasei, a gorgeous new species of basslet from Japan
Lipogramma haberorum & L. levinsoni, two more new species of deepwater reef fish
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