Maui Time

  • News
    • Walk Story: Mauitime 2018 Candidate Interviews
    • Business
    • Education
    • Health
    • Law Enforcement
    • News of the Weird
    • Politics
    • Science and Environment
    • Surf & Sports
  • Eh Brah
  • Culture
    • Activities
    • Fashion
    • Health and Wellness
    • History
    • Horoscope
    • Letters
    • Maui Community
    • People
    • Wedding
  • Entertainment
    • Art
    • Calendar
    • Community Events
    • Film Critique
    • Movies & Showtimes
    • Music
    • Stage
  • Food & Drink
    • Food News
    • Maui Bars
    • Made on Maui
    • Maui Restaurants
    • Recipes
  • Best of Maui
    • Best Restaurants and Bars, Food and Drink on Maui
      • BEST BAR ON MAUI
      • BEST BARISTA ON MAUI
      • BEST BBQ ON MAUI
      • BEST BENTO ON MAUI
      • BEST DINNER ON MAUI
      • BEST KEPT SECRET ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL BREWER ON MAUI
      • BEST BREAKFAST ON MAUI
      • BEST BURGER ON MAUI
      • BEST BURRITO ON MAUI
      • BEST BUSINESS LUNCH ON MAUI
      • BEST CHEF ON MAUI
      • BEST CHINESE ON MAUI
      • BEST COCKTAIL ON MAUI
      • BEST DINING WITH A VIEW ON MAUI
      • BEST DIVE BAR ON MAUI
      • BEST FARMERS MARKET ON MAUI
      • BEST FEMALE BARTENDER ON MAUI
      • BEST FINE DINING ON MAUI
      • BEST FISH AND CHIPS ON MAUI
      • BEST FISH SANDWICHES ON MAUI
      • BEST FISH TACOS ON MAUI
      • BEST FOOD BOOTH AT FAIR ON MAUI
      • BEST FOOD TRUCK ON MAUI
      • BEST HAPPY HOUR ON MAUI
      • BEST HEALTH FOOD STORE ON MAUI
      • BEST HOSTESS BAR ON MAUI
      • BEST ITALIAN FOOD ON MAUI
      • BEST JAPANESE ON MAUI
      • BEST KID FRIENDLY ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL CHEAP EATS ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL COFFEE HOUSE ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL FARM ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL FOOD ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL FOOD PRODUCT ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL HOT DOG ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL ICE CREAM ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL LATE NIGHT FOOD ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL LIQUOR STORE ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL PIZZA ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL SANDWICH ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCALLY MADE BEVERAGE ON MAUI
      • BEST LUAU SHOW ON MAUI
      • BEST LUNCH ON MAUI
      • BEST MAI TAI ON MAUI
      • BEST MALE BARTENDER ON MAUI
      • BEST MEXICAN FOOD ON MAUI
      • BEST NEW BAR ON MAUI
      • BEST NEW RESTAURANT ON MAUI
      • BEST NOODLE SHOP ON MAUI
      • BEST PANCAKES ON MAUI
      • BEST PAU HANA ON MAUI
      • BEST PLACE TO BUY ADULT BEVERAGES ON MAUI
      • BEST PLACE TO BUY POKE ON MAUI
      • BEST PLATE LUNCH ON MAUI
      • BEST PUPUS ON MAUI
      • BEST RESTAURANT ON MAUI
      • BEST RESTAURANT WITH KAMAAINA DEAL ON MAUI
      • BEST SAIMIN/RAMEN ON MAUI
      • BEST SEAFOOD ON MAUI
      • BEST SECRET WINE CELLAR ON MAUI
      • BEST SERVER ON MAUI
      • BEST SERVICE ON MAUI
      • BEST SHAVE ICE ON MAUI
      • BEST SMOOTHIE ON MAUI
      • BEST SPAM MUSUBI ON MAUI
      • BEST STEAK ON MAUI
      • BEST SUSHI ON MAUI
      • BEST VEGETARIAN ON MAUI
      • BEST VIETNAMESE ON MAUI
    • Best Arts Entertainment and Nightlife on Maui
      • BEST AKAKU PROGRAM ON MAUI
      • BEST BAND ON MAUI
      • BEST DINNER AND SHOW ON MAUI
      • BEST FEMALE MUSICIAN ON MAUI
      • BEST GALLERY ON MAUI
      • BEST KARAOKE ON MAUI
      • BEST LIVE THEATER ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL BLOG ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL CLUB DJ ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL COMEDIAN ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL FACEBOOK FEED ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL INSTRAGRAM ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL RADIO STATION ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL TWITTER FEED ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL VISUAL ARTIST ON MAUI
      • BEST MALE MUSICIAN ON MAUI
      • BEST MUSEUM ON MAUI
      • BEST OPEN MIC NIGHT ON MAUI
      • BEST PLACE TO DANCE ON MAUI
      • BEST PLACE TO SHOOT POOL ON MAUI
    • Best Businesses Goods and Services on Maui
      • BEST ADULT SHOP ON MAUI
      • BEST AUTO MECHANIC ON MAUI
      • BEST PLACE TO BUY AN UKELELE ON MAUI
      • BEST BIKE SHOP ON MAUI
      • BEST BOOKSTORE ON MAUI
      • BEST BRIDAL SHOP ON MAUI
      • BEST CONSIGNMENT STORE ON MAUI
      • BEST GREEN BUSINESS ON MAUI
      • BEST HARDWARE STORE ON MAUI
      • BEST HEAD SHOP ON MAUI
      • BEST HOME FURNISHING ON MAUI
      • BEST HOTEL/ACCOMODATIONS ON MAUI
      • BEST JEWELRY STORE ON MAUI
      • BEST LASER HAIR REMOVAL ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL BOUTIQUE ON MAUI
      • LOCAL CLOTHING DESIGNER
      • BEST LOCAL SURF SHOP ON MAUI
      • BEST MALE BARTENDER ON MAUI
      • BEST NEW BUSINESS ON MAUI
      • BEST OUT-OF-BUSINESS-BUSINESS ON MAUI
      • BEST PET SUPPLY STORE ON MAUI
      • BEST PLACE TO BUY MUSIC ON MAUI
      • BEST PLACE TO GET A BODYBOARD ON MAUI
      • BEST PLACE TO GET A FACIAL ON MAUI
      • BEST PLACE TO GET A MANICURE OR PEDICURE ON MAUI
      • BEST PLACE TO GET KITESURF GEAR ON MAUI
      • BEST PLACE TO GET WAXED ON MAUI
      • BEST PLACE TO SEE WW2 MEMOROBILIA ON MAUI
      • BEST PRESCHOOL/DAYCARE ON MAUI
      • BEST RECYCLING CENTER ON MAUI
      • BEST SALON ON MAUI
      • BEST SCUBA/SNORKEL SHOP ON MAUI
      • BEST SHOPPING CENTER ON MAUI
      • BEST SUP BOARD SHOP ON MAUI
      • BEST SWIMWEAR SHOP ON MAUI
      • BEST TATTOO SHOP ON MAUI
      • BEST WAY TO GET RID OF THE GIANT TV SITTING IN YOUR GARAGE ON MAUI
    • Best Sports and Lesiure on Maui
      • BEST ACTIVITIES COMPANY ON MAUI
      • BEST BARBECUING BEACH ON MAUI
      • BEST CHILDREN’S ACTIVITY ON MAUI
      • BEST COUNTY PARK ON MAUI
      • BEST FITNESS CLUB ON MAUI
      • BEST HIGH SCHOOL SPIRIT ON MAUI
      • BEST HIKE ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL AMATEUR SURFER ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCALS BEACH ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL COACH ON MAUI
      • BEST LOCAL GROM ON MAUI
      • BEST PLACE FOR OCEAN SPORT ETHUSIASTS ON MAUI
      • BEST PLACE TO BUY KITESURF GEAR ON MAUI
      • BEST PLACE TO WORKOUT WITH A VIEW ON MAUI
      • BEST PLAYGROUND ON MAUI
      • BEST PUBLIC POOL ON MAUI
      • BEST SCHOLASTIC ATHLETE ON MAUI
      • BEST SNORKELING SPOT ON MAUI
      • BEST SPA ON MAUI
      • BEST SWIMMING BEACH ON MAUI
      • BEST YOGA STUDIO ON MAUI
      • BEST YOGA TEACHER ON MAUI
      • BEST GYM ON MAUI
      • BEST RESORT POOL ON MAUI
    • Best Politics and Environment on Maui
      • BEST COMMUNITY NON-PROFIT ON MAUI
      • BEST COUNTY BLUNDER ON MAUI
      • BEST COUNTY OFFICAL ON MAUI
      • BEST ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE ON MAUI
      • BEST ENVIRONMENTAL NON-PROFIT ON MAUI
      • BEST GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE ON MAUI
      • BEST MAYORAL CANDIDATE ON MAUI
      • BEST PLACE TO PAY RESPECT TO MAUI HISTORY ON MAUI
      • BEST PLACE TO SEE HAWAII AS IT WAS PRE-CONTACT ON MAUI
      • BEST POLITICAL ACTIVIST ON MAUI
      • BEST POLITICAL SCANDAL ON MAUI
      • BEST RESOURCE ON MAUI POLITICAL HISTORY ON MAUI
      • BEST SCARIEST PUBLIC FIGURE ON MAUI
      • BEST STATE BLUNDER ON MAUI
      • BEST TOWN TO LIVE IN ON MAUI
      • BEST TOWN TO VISIT ON MAUI
  • About
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Authors Page
  • Events
  • Add Your Event
  • Events by Venue
    • West Maui
    • South Maui
    • Central Maui
      • Maui Arts and Cultural Center
    • Upcountry Maui
  • How to tip Mauitime: Signal, email and US Postal
  • February 22, 2019
You are here: Home / News / Science and Environment / NOAA, Bishop Museum researchers describe new butterflyfish species in Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument

NOAA, Bishop Museum researchers describe new butterflyfish species in Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument

September 6, 2016 by Anthony Pignataro 1 Comment

new-butterfly-fish-species-Prognathodes_basabei-Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument-2016-NOAA-photo

Using specimens collected in 2009 and again in 2015 at the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, scientists with the Bishop Museum and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have published an official description of a new species of butterflyfish in the journal ZooKeys, NOAA announced today.

“Butterflyfish are the glamour fish of the coral reefs,” said Richard L. Pyle, a Bishop Museum scientist and lead author on the publication. “They are colorful, beautiful, and have been very well-studied worldwide. Finding a new species of butterflyfish is a rare event.”

One of the reasons the fish has eluded proper description for so long is that it lives at deep coral reefs, which scientists are only now investigating.

“Deep coral reefs at depths of 150 to 500 feet, also known as mesophotic coral ecosystems or ‘the coral-reef twilight zone,’ are among the most poorly explored of all marine ecosystems,” states today’s NOAA news release. “Deeper than most scuba divers can venture, and shallower than most submersible-based exploration, these reefs represent a new frontier for coral reef research.”

The name of the new fish comes in part from a Hawaii Island diver who has long assisted the scientists who’ve studied the new species.

“The new fish, Prognathodes basabei, is named after Pete Basabe, a veteran local diver from Kona who, over the years, has assisted with the collection of reef fishes for numerous scientific studies and educational displays,” states the NOAA news release. “Basabe, an experienced deep diver himself, was instrumental in providing support for the dives that produced the first specimen of the fish that now bears his name.”

Indeed, as the paper makes clear, Basabe and Pyle (referred to as “RLP” in the following excerpt) actually did collect a few specimens of the fish off Kona back in 1998:

While conducting an exploratory dive using a mixed-gas closed-circuit rebreather off the south shore of O‘ahu (Main Hawaiian Islands) on 17 May 1998, the senior author (RLP) observed (but was unable to collect) a group of three Prognathodes near an undercut limestone ledge at a depth of 114 m. Two weeks later (30 May 1998), with the assistance of Peter K. Basabe, RLP collected the first specimen of this species at a depth of 120 m near Kealakekua Bay on the Kona coast of the island of Hawai‘i (TenBruggencate 1998). The following day he collected several more individuals at a depth of 115 m near the site of the observation of 17 May (Allen et al. 1998). All of the collected individuals were brought to the surface alive and maintained in captivity. Unfortunately, when they eventually died, only one was preserved, and it was too badly deteriorated to serve as a type specimen.

The fact that researchers collected specimens of the butterflyfish at the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument–recently expanded by President Barack Obama–wasn’t lost on the researchers, either.

“This new discovery illustrates the conservation value of very large marine protected areas,” said NOAA researcher Randall Kosaki, the paper’s co-author. “Not only do they protect the biodiversity that we already know about, they also protect the diversity we’ve yet to discover. And there’s a lot left to discover.”

Click here to read Pyle and Kosaki’s paper in ZooKeys. Also, if you find yourself on Oahu, you can see a living specimen of Prognathodes basabei at the Bishop Museum as part of their exhibit Journeys: Heritage of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, which opens on Sept. 7.

Photo of Prognathodes basabei: NOAA

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: Science and Environment Tagged With: Barack Obama, Bishop Museum, butterflyfish, deep coral reef, Kealakekua Bay, Kona, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, Pete Basabe, Prognathodes basabei, Randall Kosaki, Richard L. Pyle, ZooKeys

Comments

comments

Subscribe to Our Newsletter


Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

  • News
  • Education
  • Business
  • Health
  • Law Enforcement
  • News of the Weird
  • Politics
  • Science and Environment
  • Surf & Sports
  • Eh Brah
  • Culture
  • Activities
  • Fashion
  • Health and Wellness
  • History
  • horoscope
  • Letters
  • People
  • Wedding
  • Entertainment
  • Art
  • Calendar
  • Community Events
  • Film Critique
  • Music
  • Stage
  • Food & Drink
  • Maui Bars
  • Food News
  • Recipes
  • Maui Restaurants
  • Events
  • Add Your Event
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Authors Page

Copyright © 2019 · Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.