Spiny creature with fins like a bird wing found swimming off Fiji. See the new species
In the blue island waves surrounding Fiji, a small fish moves through the water.
Scorpionfish are known for their spiny exteriors, but as this scaly creature reaches full size, its spines are one of a kind — and a new species.
A team of Japanese researchers examined the fish while evaluating a group of scorpionfish found in the tropical waters of Fiji and the Wallis and Futuna Islands in the southwest Pacific, according to a new study published March 20 in the journal Zootaxa.
The “yellowish” creature had all the hallmarks of a scorpionfish: big eyes, an angled mouth and a slew of spines reaching from the middle of the body to the tail.
But when researchers took a closer look, they noticed some of the noteworthy spines were missing.
The new species doesn’t have lateral lacrimal or second preopercular spines, meaning a spine on the head and the front of the gills.
The fish also has much longer lower pectoral-fin rays, the fins on the side of the body. The fins are “extended” and more full compared to other scorpionfish that live in the area, the researchers said.
It was this longer fin shape that the researchers were thinking about when they were considering a name for the species.
They settled on Neomerinthe ornithoptera, according to the study. Neomerinthe, the genus of ray-finned fish included in the scorpionfish family, and ornithoptera, with “ornith” meaning bird, and “ptera” meaning wing.
The bird wing scorpionfish.
Scorpionfish are typically bottom-dwelling animals that hide in the rocks and stones near the seafloor, according to Britannica.
Some scorpionfish, the new species not included, have venom on their spines and can puncture and wound any creatures that try to take a bite, like the well-known lionfish that has infested waters around Florida and the Caribbean.
The bird wing scorpionfish sticks to much deeper waters, according to the study, and surrounds just a few islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Fiji and the Wallis and Futuna Islands are off the east coast of Australia and north of New Zealand.
This story was originally published March 21, 2024 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Spiny creature with fins like a bird wing found swimming off Fiji. See the new species."
