New species of neon fish discovered are named after the Greek goddess of love | Smart News

A new species of neon fish discovered in the twilit zone of the ocean – a dark region 200 to 500 feet below the sunny surface of the water – seduced scientists to the point where they nicknamed it Tosanoides aphrodite in the honor of Greek goddess of love and beauty.

Researchers at the California Academy of Sciences spotted the bright pink and yellow fish as they plunged into the Atlantic, some 600 miles off the coast of Brazil, reports Katherine Hignett. Newsweek. The results of the team, newly published in zookeys, represent an exciting expansion of the Tosanoides kind, which was previously limited to the Pacific, and adds an unexpected touch of color to a normally quiet environment.

"The fish in the twilight zone tend to be pink or reddish in color," said study co-author Hudson Pinheiro, an ichthyologist (or fish specialist) at the California Academy of Sciences. declaration. "The red light does not penetrate into these dark depths, making the fish invisible unless they are illuminated by a light like the one we carry when diving."

according to National GeographicMichael Greshko, Pinheiro and his colleague Ichthyologist Luiz Rocha were exploring a coral reef about 400 feet below the archipelago of the rocks of St. Paul when they saw the flashy colors of the fish. Mystified by the unusual fluorescent colors, they decide to take a closer look. By the time a six-tailed shark swam without being noticed over their heads, made banal by the new seductive discovery, the scientists found themselves face to face with an inch of three inches. T. aphrodite.

By the end of summer 2017, Pinheiro and Rocha had collected a collection of three adult males, two adult females and two juvenile females. As Helen Thompson writes Science NewsThe analysis of the l & # 39; DNA and observations made with the help of his colleague Claudia Rocha revealed a set of unique features, including a long spine and an extra fin ray.

On the basis of these laboratory tests, scientists identified the fish as a member of the Tosanoides kind. T. aphrodite is the fourth species to join the elusive ranks of the genus, and it is the only one of its kind to have been discovered in the Atlantic. The other three species – including Tosanoides obama, a Hawaiian fish named after former US President Barack Obama – all residing in the Pacific.

NewsweekHignett notes that T. aphrodite men have technicolor tones more spectacular than their female counterparts, which are a solid orange-red color closer to that generally seen in the twilight zone. It is unclear why the species has developed so unusual hues, but as Luiz Rocha explains, the researchers are actively pursuing an explanation.

"The prevailing assumption is that they use these colors as camouflage because there is no red or blue light there, but men and women are so different that they have to use them for something else."Rocha tells Newsweek. "We are sequencing their vision genes in our lab to try to better understand that."

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