New fish species on the Similans!!!

Another new species of fish has been discovered on the Similans! WE are just about as happy as can be. If yo have dived here a few times you’ll notice that the fish they are talking about is not that uncommon. No one realized it was a different species.
Not to be a braggart, but it sounds like this is what we call a peacock coral trout. Brownish body with small blue dots. I couldn’t find a picture as it’s not the most colorful or prominent fish and it’s not in our library.

The other fish he is talking about here is the Andaman sweetlips…also well known to us.

Here’s a picture from our library. Not a great picture as they are pretty camera shy.This was identified as a separate species only a few years ago. This is found on the Similans and at our local dive site – Thia Muang. Add this the hypselodoris Zebrina found only on Bong soong wreck and we are starting to look like pretty good!



This article appeared in the Bangkok post June 4th. They keep referring to Phuket because Ukkrit works there…don’t be fooled…this is the Similans they are talking about. I would have posted a link..but the Bangkok post has this really weird archiving thing going on.


So here is the article in full…

“The marvels of the Andaman

The race to identify new species before they become extinct

Global warming, the subject of an international conference held in
Bangkok recently, is expected to contribute to the rise of sea levels by
one or two metres in the next few years due to melting of polar icebergs.

But there was a time, probably during the last Ice Age some 20,000 years
ago, when the sea level was 100 metres lower than it is today and the
Andaman Sea was a nearly enclosed basin walled off by barriers formed by
the Andaman islands and the Nicobar islands.

This, or earlier similar isolation, may be the reason why several
species of fish are found only in the Andaman Sea, according to marine
biologist Ukkrit Satapoomin, who heads the marine and coastal resource
exploration unit at the Phuket Marine Biological Centre (PMBC).

Over the years since he joined the PMBC 17 years ago, Ukkrit has
discovered seven new species of fish in the waters around Phuket. Among
his discoveries is a grouper, known as pla khao in Thai.

”At first I couldn’t believe that a species new to science could be
found among the fish that people eat every day,” said Ukkrit, whose
scientific reports have been published in international journals
alongside the works of such prominent marine biologists as the former
Prince Akihito, now His Imperial Majesty Akihito, the emperor of Japan.

”It’s probably because there were few scientists who studied groupers,
or they were not too observant to realise that this species,
Cephalopholis polyspila, is different from the others found in Thai
waters. It has the same general characteristics, but it has small blue
spots on the head, body and fins, instead of just the head and thorax.
It’s larger in size than the other species, and has a more elongated
body and shorter pectoral fins.”

The new species can be found in the Andaman Sea, off Phuket and off the
southwestern coast of Sumatra, in depths of between three and 13 metres,
Ukrit said.

For a new species to be recognised by the scientific community, it has
to be given a scientific name, and a full description of its physical
characteristics must be given in a report published in a reputable
science journal.

”Identifying a species new to science is a lengthy process,” the
marine biologist explained. ”If you find what you think is a new
species, you have to collect several specimens to compare it with, make
a survey of where else it can be found, and make sure that it has never
been described before.

”If you are not an expert on the family of fish you’ve found, you have
to find a scientist with an intimate knowledge of each and every member
of that family, and work in close collaboration with them, for only they
can tell if the fish is new to science.

”If you don’t know such an expert, you have to comb every published
scientific work to make sure that no one has already described the fish,
or that it has not been described under another name and then forgotten.”

That was the reason why it took Ukkrit years before he could report
another discovery, a parrot fish, which he first found in 1994. His
report is due to be published in the online journal Zootaxa, an
international publication for animal taxonomists.

The other new species he found were a haemulid, which belongs to the
groups of fish locally known as Soi Nok Khao and Pong Samae, which he
named Pomadasys andamanensis; a cardinal fish or Pla Om Kai (Archamia
ataenia); a thicklip or Soi Nok Khao (Plectorhinchus macrospilus); a
grunter which Ukkrit calls Kapong Samae Nam Luek (Hapalogenys
merguiensis) because it is found in deep waters; and a shrimp-associated
goby or Pla Boo (Myersina adonis).

In addition, he found three other fish which he thought were also new to
science, but he could not find any more specimens.

In the past, researchers collected their specimens from fishing ports
and made their studies from the catches of fishermen. ”They did not
dive underwater and did not see the fish in its natural habitat,”
Ukkrit commented. ”Specimens lose their natural colours in preserving
bottles, and colour is an important indicator of what kind of fish it is.”

Ukkrit and his team from PMBC dive and collect their specimens live.
”Most of the new fish we found were in the Andaman Sea,” he said. They
found the haemulid fish off Phuket, the cardinal fish off northern Surin
Island and the thicklip off the Similan islands.

Why are some species found only in the Andaman Sea?

”That is a question that I often ask,” Ukkrit said. ”I believe that
during the last Ice Age, the Andaman Sea was a closed sea, so the water
level was very low. But even when the water level rose, the fish
populations were too small to spread to the open sea, so the fish
remained in the area.”

In other words, the last Ice Age had an influence on the species found
in the Andaman Sea, Ukkrit said.

He believes there are still many species waiting to be discovered in
Thai waters, especially of goby. Unfortunately, there are not enough
researchers to do the work.

The unit that he heads is not actually responsible for finding species
new to science. Its responsibilities are to investigate marine and
coastal resources in order to collect information on the size, abundance
and distribution of various species of marine life; monitor changes and
species composition and abundance of marine and coastal resources; and
to research and develop technologies to support the rehabilitation of
damaged coastal resources.

”The job description sounds easy, but in practice it’s difficult,”
Ukkrit lamented. ”There are so many kinds of marine life along the
coastal areas, but people who do the work are very few.”

Apart from Ukkrit, his unit only has one other marine biologist to do
the work. They are assisted by five employees who do technical work and
a number of casual workers who are ready to leave when they find better
opportunities elsewhere. ”When they leave, we have to train their
replacements, and this takes time,” Ukkrit said.

”The reason is money,” he added. ”If the powers that be see that a
certain unit is spending more on salaries than other units, they cut the
budget for that unit without determining the amount of work involved and
the number of people needed to do the work. But if you ask the other
units, they have the same problem: They don’t have enough people to do
the work.”

As a result, most of the institute’s researchers work well into the
night, compiling data and doing laboratory work on specimens they
collect during the day. Overworked and underpaid, some take early
retirement when they get the opportunity.

”I’m worried,” Ukkrit, 40, said. ”Few students these days want to be
marine biologists, and when we retire there will be few who will
continue our work.”

The role of his team’s research cannot be seen directly, but it is used
in policy making for the long-term management of coastal areas and
resources, Ukkrit explained.

”For example, there are areas where fish gather at certain times of the
year to spawn. Fishermen know this, but they are keeping it a secret. If
we can determine these areas then we can protect the habitat by slapping
a ban on fishing during spawning and help the fish population to grow
for the fishermen’s own good.

”If the fish are caught before they can spawn, there will be fewer fish
to catch in the future, and if the population of a certain species of
fish is already very low then that species could become extinct.

”In the Gulf of Thailand the fish population has become smaller due to
overfishing and the use of trawlers, as well as destruction of the
habitat. I am not sure if some species have disappeared, but fishermen’s
catches are much smaller than before. In the past mackerel from the Gulf
of Thailand were big, now they are small because they don’t have the
time to grow big enough before they are caught.

”The big mackerel that you see in the market come from Oman, on the
west side of the Indian Ocean.”

As for global warming, there are records that confirm that the sea water
temperature has risen, Ukkrit said.

”Coral bleaching is one of the effects of this rise in temperature. The
highest temperature in our waters is 29 Celsius in the summer; an
increase of two to three degrees will cause stress on the coral, causing
bleaching. If bleaching lasts for two to three weeks, the coral dies,
and the marine life that exists in coral reefs will also be affected.

”A rise in sea level has more effect on coastal areas than on coral
reefs, and this can easily be seen from beaches which have disappeared.
The soil erosion that results, combined with siltation from
unsustainable land development, destroys natural resources in coastal
areas.”

Ukkrit said that when policy makers talk about development, they always
say it must be sustainable, but actually they do not understand the real
value of natural resources. They don’t see why natural resources should
be protected when these can yield more money by being exploited.

”Development of coastal areas has been made faster by the inclusion of
foreign investors, but where it is not appropriate, development should
not be enforced and instead the area must be protected,” Ukkrit said.

”In Phuket, over the last five years, there has been an increase in
land development along coastal areas. When they are clearing mountains
to build houses or resorts, most people do not think of how this will
affect the sea.

”But everything is connected. When it rains, soil and fertiliser
residue flows into the sea, destroying coral reefs and marine life. No
matter where development is, in the end it will affect the sea,” and
fish species new to science could disappear before they are discovered
“”