New Species of Colorful Fish With Yellow Head Identified in Australian Museum

A new species of fish were identified in Australia. The researchers hope the discovery will help conservation efforts and management of the said species.

New Fish Species Found in Australia

Two types of colorful goby dartfish were discovered at the Australian Museum. They were previously considered to be of the same species, Nemateleotris helfrichi.

The researchers suspect that the two were separate, distinct species. However, they had only found proof and published about it, Yi-Kai Tea, the Australia Museum's Chadwick Biodiversity Research Fellow who led the study with Helen Larson, told Newsweek.

Tea explained that the two species differ primarily in the color of their head, snouts, and upper jaw. Nemateleotris helfrichi has a highly distinctive black mark on its upper jaw, which, together with its extremely protruded mouth, gives it the appearance of having a mustache. The black mark is completely absent in the new species, Nemateleotris lavandula. In addition, it is about as yellow-headed as N. helfrichi.

According to Tea, the new species was named Lavandula in honor of the fish's "beautiful colour."

In addition to having substantial morphological distinctions, the two species do not live in the same regions. Nemateleotris helfrichi is found in the French Polynesian Islands in the southeastern Pacific Ocean. In contrast, the Nemateleotris lavandula is found in the western and central Pacific, including northeastern Australia.

According to Tea, it is a prime illustration of how taxonomy may significantly impact species management and biodiversity. Suddenly, they moved from having one species widely distributed throughout the Pacific Ocean to having two species, one of which is only narrowly endemic, to a few islands in French Polynesia.

Putting a name on something is the first and most important step towards conservation because, according to Tea, they cannot protect what they do not know exists. Without careful taxonomy, we would have been unaware that two species were concealed under one name. Now that they know those facts, they can re-evaluate their distributions, statuses, and where they can go.

The study was published in the Raffles Bulletin of Zoology on March 17.

Finding New Species in the Museum

Tea said that it's not unusual to discover new species from museum collections. According to him, museums are magnificent archives of the natural history of artifacts. As a result, some specimens will represent novel species or species whose identities have been confused. Going through a collection, spotting these differences, and solving the issue with meticulous taxonomic effort is always enjoyable.

For instance, this month, a new giant spider species was discovered in Queensland, Australia. The researchers described the newly discovered species as "rare" and "secretive," Newsweek said in a separate report.

Following the discovery of an undescribed species in the museum's collection, researchers at Queensland Museum spent four years working diligently in the field to identify the species, Euoplos dignitas.

Michael Rix, head curator of arachnology at Queensland Museum, who oversaw the study, told Newsweek that older specimens kept in the Queensland Museum collection, acquired mainly in the early and mid-20th century where this species was initially discovered.

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