Original story by Brian Williams, the Courier Mail
A NEW species of fish has been discovered in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Leichhardt’s velvetfish was actually found 23 years ago but it has taken until now to confirm that it is new to science.
Marine biology expert Jeff Johnson with the Leichhardt’s Velvetfish which he found in the Gulf of Carpentaria and is new to science. Picture: Steve Pohlner Source: News Limited
Just three specimens were collected by Queensland Museum ichthyologist Jeff Johnson on CSIRO research cruises in 1990 and 1991 which suggests the fish is exceedingly rare.
It grows to about 35mm and lives on the ocean floor in about 60m of water.
Since 1990 Mr Johnson has been trying to figure out exactly what the tiny creature is.
It was named after German explorer Ludwig Leichhardt who conducted the first flora and fauna studies in the Gulf. A paper on the find will be published in the Memoirs of the Queensland Museum next week.
To help identify the fish Mr Johnson used a digital X-ray CT scanner at the University of Queensland.
The scan gave him a highly detailed image of the tiny skeleton and helped confirm it was a new species.
“We only ever collected three specimens and at first I thought it was perhaps more widespread,” he said.
“With these sorts of things, it pays to have a good look.”
Mr Johnson said it was similar to another velvet fish found in Japan and fed on crustaceans and other fish.
“They are probably secure because there can’t be too many threatening process in 60m of water in the middle of the Gulf,” he said.
About 50 new fish species were found annually in Australian waters.
Today is Threatened Species Day. It commemorates the death of the last remaining Tasmanian tiger at Hobart Zoo in 1936.
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