Four new species of perchlets identified

Tony’s team identified four new species of perchlets, small rocky reef fishes. They were named as part of a study that reviewed all 22 species of the genus Plectranthias found in Australian waters: Plectranthias ferrugineus, P. grahami, P. mcgroutheri and P. moretonensis

The CSIRO report highlighted the importance of identifying, describing and naming Australia’s biodiversity. Other species newly identified included insects, a tree, orchids, a lizard, and a shark.

As well as the valuable contribution made towards understanding Australian biodiversity, some of the new species were given memorable names including a soldier fly named after RuPaul, flies named after areas affected by the recent bushfires and beetles named after Pokemon. P. mcgroutheri honours the life-time of work by ichthyologist Mark McGrouther.

Of the four new fishes identified by Tony’s team, three can be seen here (all photos by Tony).

Plectranthias grahami - the holotype and only known specimen (in the Australian Museum collection, collected off Bulli, NSW in 1975).

Plectranthias moretonensis - the holotype and only known specimen (in the Australian Museum collection, collected off Moreton Bay, Queensland in 1969).

Plectranthias mcgroutheri - the preserved holotype (in the Australian Museum, collected off Western Australia in 1982; one of 14 known specimens).

The Rusty Perchlet (Plectranthias ferrugineus) was described from 25 specimens up to 4 cm in length and occurs from off Dampier, Western Australia eastwards to the Arafura Sea, Northern Territory. The species name ferrugineus is derived from a Latin word for rust-coloured.

A new paper by Tony and the team on the new species was published earlier this year. Read the CSIRO annual report.

Banner image by Steve Halama.