In the News

New fish species found in Pingtung market

• Publication Date：10/01/2010
• Source： Liberty Times

Ho Hsuan-ching, a newly hired ichthyologist with the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium in southern Taiwan's Pingtung County, during a recent stroll in a local outdoor market discovered three fish of a previously unknown species.

After consulting a number of scholars around the world, he found that Taiwan can indeed point to yet another species of fish: the spotted sandperch, the discovery of which engendered considerable excitement in ichthyology circles.

Ho said this new species was particularly exciting for him because the species of sandperch commonly seen around the Hengchun area is the Shao's sandperch (Parapercis shaoi), which was actually named after one of his teachers. Being familiar with the common species, when he saw the new one on the fishmonger's table, he knew right away that it was really another species entirely.

The shape and color of the new species are similar to Shao's sandperch, but the number of spots on the body and the black spotting on the tail are different from the better-known species. Ho sent a picture of the fish to a world fish authority in Hawaii, Dr. Randall, who confirmed that this was a totally new species hitherto unknown.

Ho said he had never walked through that particular market in the past, and certainly never imagined that such a simple trip might result in the discovery of a new species. He also called on the people and the government to cherish Taiwan's natural riches both on land and in the sea.

(This article originally appeared in The Liberty Times Sept. 30.)