Plectranthias purpuralepis is a brand new species of deepwater basslet coming from the North end of Taiwan in the Three Northern Islands area. It’s not surprising that this new Plectranthias is found in deep water like so many of its…
New Species
Hungry Hungry Scale Worms: Scientists Discover Four New Species of Deep Sea Dwellers
Researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have described and named four new species of scale worms from deep-sea habitats in the eastern Pacific Ocean. These deep-sea worms are known for their iridescent overlapping scales and have…
Chromis mamatapara, a New Species of Damselfish from the Depths of Easter Island
Chromis are part of a group of fish that we expect to encounter in the deeper tropical reefs of the world, alongside the deepwater basslets, anthias, and certain wrasses, It’s therefore not a complete surprise that deep diving surveys in…
[WATCH] New Species Discoveries With Dr. Mark Erdmann and Ocean Geographic
Have you ever wanted to invite a scientist into your living room and hear about all their exciting discoveries? Ocean Geographic has been hosting live video sessions with experts around the globe and last week we tuned in to hear…
Apogon soloriensis, a New Cardinalfish from Japan
Cardinalfish are an important and abundant part of tropical reef fish communities and now we can add one more to the list, Apogon soloriensis. This newly described little red fish was discovered in the Bonin Islands of Japan, better known…
A New Moray Eel Described from South Africa, Gymnothorax elaineheemstrae
Moray eels are a unique and unmistakeable predator of many marine environments, and a very interesting pet predator to keep in an aquarium. Some widespread species have natural ranges from one continent to another but often times, the populations that…
Leptastrea gibbosa & L. magaloni, Two New Species of Stony Corals
Leptastrea gibbosa and L. magaloni are two new species of stony corals that were recently described from this widespread group. We’ll be the first to admit, that despite having ‘an eye for coral’ identification, the Leptastrea are a very challenging group,…
Atlantia, a New Genus of NPS Coral from the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantia is a new genus of non photosynthetic stony coral (NPS) that was just recognized as being unique and as the name implies, from the Atlantic Ocean. Previously Atlantia caboverdiana was first classified as Enallopsammia and then reclassified as a species…
Plectranthias cruentus, a New Perchlet Species from Lord Howe Island
Plectranthias cruentus is a very unexpected new species of perchlet discovered in the remote waters of Australia’s Lord Howe Island region. The sole photo of a freshly preserved specimen collected off Ball’s Pyramid shows a fish that looks quite a…
Novaculops compressus, a New Species from Japan Joins the Razor Wrasses
Novaculops compressus is a new species of the small group of razor wrasses that are fun and different from the usual aquarium labrids. Unlike the usual fairies and flasher wrasses, the razor wrasses are uniquely adapted to take shelter in…