Date: June 8, 2016
Source: Pensoft Publishers
As part of the Deep Reef
Observation Project (DROP), initiated by the Smithsonian Institution, a new
goby fish species was discovered in the southern Caribbean. Living at depths
greater than conventional SCUBA divers can access, yet too shallow to be of
interest for deep-diving submersibles, the fish will now be known under the
common name of the Godzilla goby.
Its discoverers Drs Luke
Tornabene, Ross Robertson and Carole C. Baldwin, all affiliated with the
Smithsonian Institution, have described the species in the open access journal ZooKeys.
Formally called Varicus lacerta, the species name
translates to 'lizard' in Latin and refers to the reptilian appearance of the
fish. Its prime colors are bright yellow and orange, while the eyes are green.
The new goby also has a
disproportionately large head and multiple rows of recurved canine teeth in
each jaw. This is also why the research team has chosen the common name of the
Godzilla goby.
Apart from its lovely coloration,
the new fish stands out with its branched, feather-like pelvic-fin rays and the
absence of scales.
The scientists caught the Godzilla
goby thanks to the manned submersible Curasub, which had already helped in
discovering several species over the course of the project. Last year, Drs Ross
Robertson and Carole Baldwin had another new goby published in ZooKeys. That time, they even named it
after the submersible. Earlier this year, the DROP team also described nine
additional new species, many of which were collected by the Curasub.
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