JULY 11,
2019
Africa has
new purple-clad warriors more than 200 feet beneath the ocean's surface.
Deep-diving scientists from the California Academy of Sciences' Hope for
Reefs initiative
and the University of Sydney spotted dazzling fairy wrasses—previously unknown
to science—in the dimly lit mesophotic coral reefs of eastern Zanzibar, off the
coast of Tanzania. The multicolored wrasses sport deep purple scales so pigmented,
they even retain their color (which is typically lost) when preserved for
research. The scientists name this "twilight zone" reef-dweller Cirrhilabrus
wakanda (common name "Vibranium Fairy Wrasse") in honor of
the mythical nation of Wakanda from the Marvel Entertainment comics and movie
Black Panther. The new fish is described today in ZooKeys.
"When
we thought about the secretive and isolated nature of these unexplored African
reefs, we knew we had to name this new species after Wakanda," says Yi-Kai Tea,
lead author and ichthyology Ph.D. student from the University of Sydney.
"We've known about other related fairy wrasses from the Indian Ocean, but
always thought there was a missing species along the continent's eastern edge.
When I saw this amazing purple fish, I knew instantly we were dealing with the
missing piece of the puzzle."
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