Photos: Gorgeous rainbow-coloured fish discovered near Maldives
The brightly-coloured fish is named after the national flower of Maldives.
Meet the rose-veiled fairy wrasse (Cirrhilabrus finifenmaa), a brightly-coloured 'rainbow fish' discovered living in the ocean's "twilight zone," 40 to 70 metres below the surface near the Maldives.
The name is a nod to the pink colour. "Finifenmaa" means rose in Dhivehi, the local language spoken in the Maldives. The rose is the national flower of The Republic of the Maldives.
Courtesy: Yi-Kai Tea.
A study describing the fish was published earlier this week in the journal ZooKeys. The authors say it is one of the first species to have its name derived from the Dhivehi language.
“It has always been foreign scientists who have described species found in the Maldives without much involvement from local scientists, even those that are endemic to the Maldives," study co-author and Maldives Marine Research Institute biologist Ahmed Najeeb said in a statement.
“This time it is different and getting to be part of something for the first time has been really exciting, especially having the opportunity to work alongside top ichthyologists on such an elegant and beautiful species.”
Researchers first collected the fish in the 1990s, believing it was the adult version of another species, C. rubrisquamis. The new paper takes a closer look at adults and juveniles of both species, concluding that C. finifenmaa is unique.
Courtesy: Yi-Kai Tea.
“What we previously thought was one widespread species of fish, is actually two different species, each with a potentially much more restricted distribution,” lead author and University of Sydney doctoral student Yi-Kai Tea says in a statement. “This exemplifies why describing new species, and taxonomy in general is important for conservation and biodiversity management.”
The authors say the newly-described fish has a healthy population but it is threatened by the aquarium hobbyist trade.
Courtesy: Luiz Rocha/California Academy of Sciences.
“Though the species is quite abundant and therefore not currently at a high risk of overexploitation, it’s still unsettling when a fish is already being commercialized before it even has a scientific name,” senior author and Academy Curator of Ichthyology Luiz Rocha, Ph.D., who co-directs the Hope for Reefs initiative that was associated with the study, said.
During their survey, the team says eight other species of fish were discovered that could also be new species. The authors plan to collect further specimens, and if any of the fish are unnamed, they plan to give them Maldivian monikers.