JEREMY GAY
4 DAYS AGO
A new species of deepwater hogfish has been described in the journal Zoological Studies. Terelabrus toretore is now the fifth species within the genus Terelabrus, and was discovered in the mesophotic zone in Tahiti, French Polynesia. Mesophotic zones range from 100-490 feet, and represent the lower limits for most photosynthetic corals as well for divers. Specialist rebreather diving equipment and trained technical divers are necessary for depths over 200 feet. T.toretore was collected at a staggering 140m/459’ by a team including well-known deep diving Ichthyologist Luis Rocha, of the California Academy of Sciences. The paper was authored by Bart Shepherd, Hudson T. Pinheiro, Tyler A. Y. Phelps, Gilles Siu, and Luis Rocha.
The four other species of Terelabrus also come from mesophotic reefs, at depths from 50-150m/164-492′. The first member of the genus, T.rubrovittatus was caught in New Caledonia and described in 1998. The second species, T.dewapyle, arrived in 2015 and was described from five specimens collected in southern Japan, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji. Terelabrus flavocephalus came in 2016 from the Maldives, and Terelabrus zonalis came in 2018 from the Philippines, coming by way of a trawl.
For the whole article, please go:
Terelabrus toretore is a New Species of Striped Hogfish from Tahiti | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog
A new species of deepwater hogfish has been described in the journal Zoological Studies. Terelabrus toretore is now the fifth species within the genus Terelabrus, and was discovered in the mesophotic…
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