Trawlers catch sea creature with ‘needle-like’ teeth — and discover new species
.png "Scientists and trawlers off Japan found an orange-eyed sea creature with “needle-like teeth” and discovered a new species, a study said.")
Off the coast of southern Japan, trawlers hauled in their nets and sifted through the catch. An orange-eyed sea creature with “needle-like” teeth caught their attention — and for good reason.
It turned out to be a new species.
Scientists visited several sites in southern Japan between 2004 and 2024 to survey fish and collect specimens from research vessels, anglers and trawlers, according to a study published May 16 in the peer-reviewed journal Ichthyological Research.
Among their samples were several blotchy orange fish, the study said. Initially, researchers thought these were a poorly known species of lizardfish but, after taking a closer look, realized they’d discovered a new species: Synodus lautus, or the elegant lizardfish.
Elegant lizardfish have “elongate” bodies, reaching just over 6 inches in length, the study said. They have “pointed” snouts and orange eyes angled to the side. Their mouths are “large” with “numerous, small, needle-like” teeth and a “fleshy” tongue covered in dozens of “depressible teeth.”
Elegant lizardfish vary in hue from light orange to “darker” orange to “reddish” depending on the water depth where they lived, the study said. The variation was likely “protective coloration” because of “the red color being less visible in deeper water.”
Researchers said they named the new species after its “bright body color” and described the fish as having “doughnut-shaped” blotches along their sides and creamy white stomachs.
Photos show the coloring of the new species soon after being caught and after being preserved.
Much about the lifestyle of elegant lizardfish remains unknown. The fish were caught between depths of about 200 to 650 feet and inhabited “sandy gravel bottoms and boulders,” the study said.
So far, elegant lizardfish have only been found at several sites in southern Japan, ranging from the southern coast of Japan’s main Honshu island to the southern tip of its archipelago near Taiwan, the study said.
The new species was identified by its DNA, scale pattern, coloring, fin shape, teeth shape and other subtle physical features, the study said.
The research team included Ryusei Furuhashi of the United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences at Kagoshima University and Hiroyuki Motomura.
This story was originally published May 22, 2025 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Trawlers catch sea creature with ‘needle-like’ teeth — and discover new species."
