The new fish species of the genus Vanderhorstia from the family Gobiidae

In March 2010, the research team of the NARL's Taiwan Ocean Research Institute (TORI), led by Jeng-Ping Chen, discovered a new fish species of the genus Vanderhorstia from the family Gobiidae and four newly recorded fish species (Amblyeleotris melanocephala and Amblyeleotris diagonalis from the family Gobiidae, and Hoplolatilus cuniculus and Hoplolatilus marcosi from the family Malacanthidae) in Taiwan. These species were found in the Kenting sea area in the southe tip of Taiwan.

The new species of the genus Vanderhorstia is similar to the endemic species that was first discovered in Japan's Izu Peninsula and Sagami Bay. The major difference is that the latter exhibits a black blotch on the first dorsal fin. The new fish species was observed to live with alpheid shrimps from the family Alpheidae, which prepare and maintain burrows in sandy areas. When threatened, the fish would immediately escape to the burrows.

A shrimp-associated Amblyeleotris melanocephala was first described on the basis of specimens from Okinawa Island and Okinoshima Island, Japan in 2000. The very fish was also recorded in Bali, Indonesia based on underwater photograph. Nevertheless, it was surprising and exciting that the NARL-TORI research team had observed over six specimens in the Kenting sea area. Another shrimp-associated goby, Amblyeleotris diagonalis, is widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific. The fish has a distinguished black thin strip near the eyes. And the team's recent specimen observation is first ever in Taiwan.

Hoplolatilus cuniculus and Hoplolatilus marcosi are monogamous therefore are usually kept in pairs in an aquarium. Both species were first sighted in wild by an expatriate researcher in deep sea around Green Island, about 33 km off the easte coast of Taiwan, in May 2005. Unfortunately, no photograph or specimen was taken at that time. The specimen observation in the Kenting sea area therefore is the first confirmed record.

The recent accomplishment of Dr. Chen's team, commissioned by the Kenting National Park, follows the four fish species that the team recorded for the first time in Taiwan in 2009: Macrodontogobius wilburi and Ctenogobiops pomastictus from the family Gobiidae, and Chrysiptera rollandi and Pomacentrus alexanderae from the family Pomacentridae. The team's endeavor in discovering and describing new fish species is just one more addition to the wild and wonderful diversity of marine life that abounds in the Kenting sea area and -at a much wider window- is an addition to Taiwan's biodiversity.