‘Large'-eyed sea creature — with ‘canine-like' teeth — discovered as new species
Near an island in the South Pacific Ocean, a bright red sea creature with 'canine-like' teeth swam around the coral reef. Maybe it was its vibrant coloring or its spiny body, but something about the animal caught the attention of nearby scientists.
It turned out to be a new species.
In the 1970s, scientists collected several 'large'-eyed scorpionfish from an island in Australia and a few other remote locales. The specimens were thought to be a known species and deposited in various museums without much further research — until recently.
Roxanne Cabebe-Barnuevo and Hiroyuki Motomura decided to take another look at some old scorpionfish specimens and noticed a few fish that didn't quite match the others, they wrote in a study published March 5 in the peer-reviewed journal Ichthyological Research.
At a glance, the scorpionfish from the South Pacific Ocean 'closely' resembled a species in Japan, yet a closer look revealed several subtle but consistent differences, the study said. Researchers realized they'd discovered a new species: Sebastapistes monospina, or the tropical single-spined scorpionfish.
Tropical single-spined scorpionfish have 'compressed' bodies reaching about 2.5 inches in length, the study said. Their 'moderately large' heads have 'large' eyes and 'large' mouths with 'sharp,' 'canine-like teeth.'
A photo shows the bright red coloring of the new species and the 'irregular white blotches' dotting its body.
Very little is known about the lifestyle of tropical single-spined scorpionfish, the study said. The fish were found in 'shallow coral and rocky reef environments' at depths of about 2 to 90 feet.
Researchers said they named the new species 'monospina,' a combination of the Latin words for 'single' and 'spine,' because it has one spine near its eye.
So far, tropical single-spined scorpionfish have been found at three islands in the South Pacific Ocean: Australia's Lord Howe Island, French Polynesia's Austral Islands and the Pitcairn Islands, a British overseas territory, the study said. All of these islands are east of Australia at distances ranging from about 370 miles to almost 6,000 miles.
The new species was identified by its scales, skeleton, spines, teeth, fin shape and other subtle physical features, the study said. Researchers did not provide a DNA analysis of the new species.
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