'Uncertain' fish species identified in Taiwan as new garfish

Kaohsiung, March 3 (CNA) Researchers in Taiwan and Germany have recently identified a new garfish species that had been described as an "uncertain species" despite a specimen being collected in Kaohsiung over a century ago.

The new garfish species has been named "Zenarchopterus takaoensis," or "Takao's garfish," Liao Yun-chih (廖運志), an assistant professor at the University of Taipei, told CNA in an interview Sunday.

Takao -- the early name of Kaohsiung -- was where German zoologist Hans Sauter collected a specimen of the new garfish during his visits to Taiwan in the early 20th century, Liao and his fellow researchers said in a scientific paper they co-authored.

The label of the specimen kept in the Museum of Nature Hamburg in Germany showed it as "Zenarchopterus sp., Takao, Formosa, Hans Sauter, V–VII 1907," but no actual dates could be determined, according to the paper published in the scientific journal Zootaxa in December.

Sauter is most known for specimens of insects, especially butterflies, he collected in Taiwan and sent back to Europe. He moved to Taiwan to take a job with a trading company and died here in 1943.

Liao said his research into the species began after he spotted a group of garfish near Kaohsiung Harbor in 2021, when he was working at the National Academy of Marine Research in the port city.

Liao worked with Chang Chih-wei (張至維), who heads the academy's Marine Ecology and Conservation Research Center, and Ralf Thiel from the German museum, which sent the historic specimen sourced by Sauter to researchers in Taiwan.

Sauters' specimen and the specimens Liao and his colleagues collected shared the same characteristics -- nine pectoral- and anal-fin rays and a long nose with dark marks on it -- and DNA tests also confirmed the fish in Liao's research was unique enough to be a stand-alone species.

In the Zootaxa paper, the new species is described as "a new estuary garfish from southwestern Taiwan" and is about 69.9-80.0 millimeters long.

It is the fourth species of the Zenarchopterus genus to be found in Taiwan, Liao said, adding that the fish species is usually found in tropical mangroves but not so commonly in Taiwan.

Warmer sea water temperatures may be one of the factors contributing to the northward movement of the fish species, he said, adding that future research will examine that theory.