A new species of tiny blenniiform fish has been discovered in the biodiversity rich waters of the southern Caribbean.Haptoclinus dropiis only around 2cm in length with a beautiful color pattern that includes iridescence²（彩虹色） on the fins⁴. The proposed common name of the species is four-fin³ blenny（鲇鱼）, due to the division of the dorsal⁵ fin（背鳍） into four sections, which is a distinguishing feature of the genus and unique among blenniiform fishes. The study was published in the open access journalZookeys. This beautiful new species was discovered as a lucky bycatch during targeted specimen⁶ catching⁷ at 157-167 m depth off Curaçao as a part of the Smithsonian Institution'sDeep Reef Observation Project (DROP). The new species,Haptoclinus dropi, gets its name from the project's abbreviation and is one of numerous new ray-finned fish species emerging from this project.

 

For DROP expeditions theSubstation Curaçao's manned submersible Curasub was used to catch specimens⁸. While generally used as tourist attraction because it travels at much greater depths than divers¹ can reach, the Curasub is also used for scientific marine⁹ research. Targeted fish specimens are collected with the sub's two flexible, hydraulic¹⁰（液压的） arms, but very often small non-targeted fish are also caught in the process.

 

"Below the depths accessible using scuba¹¹ gear and above the depths typically targeted by deep-diving submersibles, tropical deep reefs are productive ocean ecosystems¹² that science has largely missed. They are home to diverse assemblages of new and rare species that we are only just beginning to understand," explains the lead author of the study Dr Carole Baldwin,Smithsonian Institution.

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