Taiping Island research station discovers 1st new fish species

Kaohsiung, Oct. 9 (CNA) A marine research station on Taiwan-controlled Taiping Island has discovered its first new fish species in nearly four years since its establishment, the National Academy of Marine Research (NAMR) said Wednesday.

The new species -- Fusigobius taipinensis -- was found by a joint team from NARM and National Taiwan Ocean University (NTOU) searching for cryptic species in the Gobiidae family, the academy said in a statement.

NARM said the fish is the first Gobiidae species discovered in waters around Taiping, since a permanent research station was established on the South China Sea island in late 2020.

The new finding will be soon published by Zootaxa, a peer-reviewed scientific mega journal for animal taxonomists.

Taiping Island, also known as Itu Abu, is located some 1,600 kilometers from Kaohsiung and is Taiwan's southernmost offshore territory.

The new species lives in coral reefs some 20 meters under the sea near Taiping Island, and has also been found, albeit in smaller numbers, in waters around Xiaoliuqiu Island off Taiwan's southwest coast, NARM said.

The 3-6 cm transparent fish has many yellow spots on its body and two dark black dots on its dorsal fin, which NARM said helped researchers identify it as a distinct species.

According to NTOU Professor Chen I-hsiung (陳義雄), Gobiidae, or gobie, is the largest family of reef fish and form a large portion of the world's tropical marine fish fauna.

Of the over 2,000 species within the gobie family, more than 260 can be found in waters around Taiwan, Chen said.

Chang Chih-wei (張至維), director of NAMR's Marine Ecology and Conservation Research Center, said NTOU has been researching fish species near Taiping Island since 1994.