Tosanoides bennetti is the latest inductee into one of the most colorful and dare we say it, bombastic groups of tropical marine fish. Bennett’s deepwater anthias is part of a recent ‘spree’ of new species of Tosanoides from the Western to the Central Pacific Ocean, and one species was even described from the Atlantic.
Like all of its congeners Tosanoides bennetti was found living in prohibitively deep water of 150 meters of nearly 500 feet, off limits for any kind of recreational divers and even rebreather explorers might give second thoughts to going that deep. The holotype was collected 220 km from Cairns Australia on Holmes Reef in the Coral Sea.
The gorgeous new anthias is on the small side with specimens ranging from one to two inches in body length but what they lack in size they make up for with spectacular color and pattern. Bennett’s anthias is hot pink overall with bold yellow spots and stripes reminiscent of the Holy Grail Tosanoides flavofasciatus from the Northwest Pacific. [Aqua]
