Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 33, Number 10, 1 October 2016 — Unique fish found at Papahānaumokuākea [ARTICLE]

Unique fish found at Papahānaumokuākea

Scientists made a rare discovery in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands - a new butterflyfish species that lives in the deep coral reefs. Although the species was seen in video shot more than 20 years ago,

the extreme depth of its habitat made it difficult to provide a proper scientific description until now. "Discoveries such as this underscore how poorly explored and how little we know about our deep coral reefs," said Randall Kosaki, NOAA scientist and co-author of the published description. "Virtually every deep dive we do takes plaee on a reef that no human being has ever seen." Named after veteran diver Pete Basabe, who has helped collect reef fish for scientific studies and educational purposes, the Prognathodes basabei is now encountered regularly at Papahānaumokuākea.

"This new discovery illustrates the conservation value of very large marine protected areas," said Kosaki. "Not only do they protect the biodiversity that we already know about, they also protect the diversity we've yet to discover. And there's a lot left to discover." Another newly discovered fish was named after President Barack Ohama last month, in honor of his decision to expand the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument to four times its original boundaries. The maroon and gold fish of the genus Tosanoides live only within the monument.