The Maldivian scientist is the first person to describe a fish, the stunning new-to-science fairy wrasse. The species is added to the tree of life as part of the global Hope for Reefs initiative of the California Academy of Sciences and is named after the country's national flower.
Although there are hundreds of fish species off the Maldives' coast, a mesmerizing new addition is the first to be formally described by a Maldivian researcher—the scientific process by which an organism is recognized as a new species.
One of the first species to have its name derived from the local D H-I V-E H-I language, "F-I N-I F-E N M-A" means "rose," a nod to both its pink hues and the island nation's national flower, is the newly discovered Rose-Veiled Fairy Wrasse (C-I R H-I L-A B R U S F-I N-I F-E N M-A), which was described in a paper that was published on March 10, 2022, in the journal Zoo Key. As part of the Hope for Reefs initiative, which aims to better understand and protect coral reefs worldwide, researchers from the Maldives Marine Research Institute (M R-I), the University of Sydney, the Field Museum, and the California Academy of Sciences collaborated on the discovery.
According to Ahmed N-A J-I B, a co-author of the study and a biologist at the Maldives Marine Research Institute, "it has always been foreign scientists who have described species found in the Maldives without much involvement from local scientists, even those that are endemic to the Maldives." This time around, things are different, and it has been really exciting to be a part of something for the first time. Especially exciting has been the chance to collaborate with top ichthyologists on such a graceful and beautiful species.
C F-I N-I F-E N M-A was initially thought to be the adult form of C-I R H-I L-A B R U S R U B R-I S Q U-A M-I S, a different species that had been described based on a single juvenile specimen from the C H-A G O S Archipelago, an island chain 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) south of the Maldives. Researchers first collected C F-I N-I F-E N M-A in the 1990s.
However, in this new study, the researchers measured and counted a variety of characteristics, including the color of adult males, the height of each spine supporting the fin on the fish's back, and the number of scales found on various body regions, taking a more in-depth look at both adults and juveniles of the multicolored marvel. The comparison of these data and genetic analyses to the C R U B R-I S Q U-A M-I S specimen proved that C F-I N-I F-E N M-A is a distinct species.
Importantly, this discovery significantly reduces each wrasse's known range, which is an important factor to take into account when choosing conservation priorities
The aquarium hobbyist trade already exploits the Rose-Veiled Fairy Wrasse. At least eight additional new species, including C F-I N-I F-E N S-I S, have yet to be described. Hope for Reefs investigated the "twilight zone" reefs beneath the ocean's surface in the Maldives
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