Gobies are so plentiful and diverse we knew it was only a matter of time until we got a new species this year. The highly species rich genus Trimma gets first billing for 2019 with the official description of T. christianeae from…
New Species
Cryptocentrus altipinna, a New Species of Highfin Shrimpgoby
Cryptocentrus altipinna is a fresh new species of small watchman goby from the eastern Indian Ocean around Thailand and Sri Lanka. This smaller species of watchman has a beautiful rosy pink spotted face very similar to the pink spotted watchman, Cryptocentrus…
Lipogramma idabeli, a Gorgeous New Species of Deepwater Basslet
Lipogramma idabeli is a gorgeous and unexpected new species of basslet recently described from Honduras. Like similar species of Lipogramma, L. idabelli was collected at the abyssal depths of 125 to 150 meters, or between 410 to 492 feet deep. Lipogramma idabeli is…
Terelabrus zonalis, A New Hogfish Species from the Philippines
Terelabrus zonalis is the newest labrid species which is part of an enigmatic group of wrasses called the candy hogfish. With usually bright red and white or yellow stripes, it’s easy to see why they are compared to candy in…
Navigobius asayake, The Newest Angelic Dartfish Species from Japan
Navigobius asayake is the newest species of dartfish discovered to get an official species description. Once known only from pictures taken by SCUBA divers, the Navigobius genus was erected only in 2009 and has expanded rapidly to include four very distinct and…
Chrysiptera uswanasi, the Newest Species of Damselfish from Papua
Chrysiptera uswanasi is yet another new species of damselfish from the island of Papua, Indonesia. Uswana’s damselfish is the seventh member of the very similar looking cluster of species in the C. oxycephala complex. Other recently described damselfish from the…
Heliopora hiberniana is a New Species of ‘White’ Blue Ridge Coral
Heliopora hiberniana is the first new species of blue ridge coral to be described in over two hundred and fifty years! Originally described by Palais in 1766, Heliopora coerulea, also known as Blue Ridge coral is a super common, widespread…
Starksia splendens, a New Blenny Species from the Cayman Islands
Blennies are a broad group of marine fish that occur on tropical and temperate oceans all over the world, and recently we’ve discovered one more. Starksia splendens is part of a group of closely related small labrisomid blennies from the Caribbean which…
Two New Species of Gorgonians Endemic to Mexico
This has been a pretty good year for new species of corals being described and discovered and today we learned of two more. Two new species of gorgonians from two different genera have been formally classified from specimens discovered and…
New Micro Polyp Species Described from Japan and Palau
Micro polyps are a broad group of tiny encrusting octocorals that can be so small that they are easily overlooked, both on the reef and in the aquarium. The only one we see with any regularity is ‘blue Anthelia’ a…