Latest news with #RonaldFricke
Miami Herald
23-07-2025
- Science
- Miami Herald
Trawlers snag ‘large'-eyed sea creature in a first-of-its-kind catch for India
Off the coast of southern India, trawlers hauled in their nets and started sifting through the catch. A pale brown sea creature with 'large' eyes caught their attention — and for good reason. It turned out to be a first-of-its-kind record. A team of scientists visited a fish landing center in Kollam, Kerala, in November 2023 to see what local trawlers were bringing in. Their focus wasn't the main hauls but rather the accidental catches, according to a study published July 18 in the peer-reviewed journal Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria. During the visit, researchers noticed four 'light brown' eels, the study said. Intrigued, they took a closer look at the fish and identified them as blackedge cusk eels, or Ophidion muraenolepis. Blackedge cusk eels are a poorly known fish species found throughout 'the eastern Indian Ocean and the western Pacific' from Indonesia to Hawaii, researchers said. The Kerala trawlers' catch is 'the first record of this species in Indian waters and the western Indian Ocean.' A photo shows one of the blackedge cusks caught off Kerala. The fish has 'large' 'pale greyish brown eyes,' a 'large' mouth and 'basket weave pattern scales,' the study said. As its name implies, its tail fin is edged with a 'black margin.' Information about blackedge cusk eels is 'scarce,' but the species's lifestyle is probably similar to that of other cusk eels, the study said. Generally, cusk eels are 'rare' and 'exhibit cryptic, burrowing behavior during (the) day making them more difficult to capture,' researchers said. Their eggs are 'encapsulated within a gelatinous mass,' and their diet 'primarily consists of small crustaceans,' such as shrimp. Researchers identified the blackedge cusk eels in Kerala by their coloring, fin shape and other subtle physical features. 'These findings underscore the importance of increased scientific investment towards comprehensive biodiversity assessments and taxonomic research focused on the ichthyofauna (fish) of the Indian Ocean,' the study said. The research team included Teena Jayakumar, Ronald Fricke, T. T. Ajith Kumar and Uttam Kumar Sarkar.
Miami Herald
09-07-2025
- Science
- Miami Herald
Deep-water fish with ‘slender snout' and ‘compressed body' is a new species
Over the last several decades, an unusual 'slender' fish has been recorded in the deep waters of the Coral Sea, in the areas around Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Just over 40 years after its first record in 1984, researchers have now discovered it is a new species of pipefish, according to a study published July 8 in the journal ZooKeys. Corythoichthys quattuordecim, also known as the Coral Sea pipefish, was recorded at depths between 180 and 265 feet — much deeper than related species in the Corythoichthys genus, according to the study. Five Coral Sea pipefish have been caught since 1984, according to the study. Other 'reef-associated' Corythoichthys species are typically found in shallower water, no deeper than 130 feet, researchers said. The Coral Sea pipefish is also distinguished from other related species by 'the presence of 14 trunk rings,' or bony body segments, which researchers called a rare characteristic. The new species — part of the same family as sea dragons and seahorses — is about two and a half inches in length with an 'elongated, slightly compressed' body, and a long, 'slender' snout, the study said. Similar to seahorses, male pipefish give birth to offspring. Male specimens of the new Coral Sea pipefish have a 'brood pouch' under their tails, according the study. The research team included Daijiro Yuki, Ronald Fricke and Hiroyuki Motomura.
