SeaSaw
14-05-2004, 07:34 PM
A few days back I posted a picture of a fish I was having trouble identifying. Thanks to Jeff (aka Gorilla_in_Manilla) who pointed me to the Australian Museum site where there was a picture of the fish and it was described as rare.
I followed up with an email to the Australian Museum and sent them a picture of the fish. I got immediate responses from both the Australian Museum and the New Zealand Museum. It turns out that very little is known about this fish species and very few specimens exist at the moment to assist with research. Part of the response from a person carrying out research on this sepecies is below:
"Your fish is certainly a Caprodon, and probably belongs to the species Caprodon krasyukovae, but we cannot at present be certain because the identity of Caprodon species is a muddle with a couple of widely used old names, a few new species described based on only one or two specimens, plus a couple of undescribed species new to science. So, the whole group is in confusion. Off southern Queensland it appears that there are either two or three species present, but we are uncertain about their scientific names and do not know how to distinguish them. A similar situation exists off New Zealand, as well as Hawaii, Japan and Chile.I am hoping to throw some light on the problem by carrying out a research project that will try to address these issues."
If you happen to come across one of these fish and are willing to help out with research on the species, PM and I will give you the details of who to contact. The museum will pay freight costs for any fish (preferably frozen in a plastic bag to preserve the fish) and are offering a copy of a book on fishes as an incentive to assist. The down side is they are great eating :(
The picture of the fish I caught is below. They are looking for any fish in this species.
Mark
I followed up with an email to the Australian Museum and sent them a picture of the fish. I got immediate responses from both the Australian Museum and the New Zealand Museum. It turns out that very little is known about this fish species and very few specimens exist at the moment to assist with research. Part of the response from a person carrying out research on this sepecies is below:
"Your fish is certainly a Caprodon, and probably belongs to the species Caprodon krasyukovae, but we cannot at present be certain because the identity of Caprodon species is a muddle with a couple of widely used old names, a few new species described based on only one or two specimens, plus a couple of undescribed species new to science. So, the whole group is in confusion. Off southern Queensland it appears that there are either two or three species present, but we are uncertain about their scientific names and do not know how to distinguish them. A similar situation exists off New Zealand, as well as Hawaii, Japan and Chile.I am hoping to throw some light on the problem by carrying out a research project that will try to address these issues."
If you happen to come across one of these fish and are willing to help out with research on the species, PM and I will give you the details of who to contact. The museum will pay freight costs for any fish (preferably frozen in a plastic bag to preserve the fish) and are offering a copy of a book on fishes as an incentive to assist. The down side is they are great eating :(
The picture of the fish I caught is below. They are looking for any fish in this species.
Mark