This tropical marine fish lives in nooks and crannies in the deep sea coral reefs of the country, a region known as the mesophotic zone.
SunOnline International
The Maldives is ending the year 2024 with an amazing new discovery being made in the country. In December 2024, an international collaboration of scientists discovered a new species of damselfish in the Maldives. This tropical marine fish lives in nooks and crannies in the deep sea coral reefs of the country, a region known as the mesophotic zone.
The analysis shows that the fish has never been recorded before in any other part of the world.
Following its discovery, the Marine Research Institute has named the new fish species ‘Chromis abadhah’. The last part of the name ‘abadhah’ in Dhivehi means perpetual or perpetually. The team chose this name to honour the Rolex Perpetual Planet initiative, which funded the Maldives expedition that led to the species’ discovery through a Rolex Award for Enterprise granted to Luiz Rocha. According to the institute, Chromis abadhah has been recorded in eight different locations spanning a 180 km area from Lhaviyani Atoll to Dhaalu Atoll and the newly discovered species is likely present in other parts of the country as well.
According to the research findings, the Chromis abadhah species has a pearly white body with pale blue undertones, darker along its back but lighter below the eyes. Additionally, it was noted that the scales below the eyes were very reflective, while the eyes were noted to have a silvery-blue circle surrounding a darker central portion of the iris. The fish, when preserved, loses its blue hue, which then fades to a reddish-brown, the study observed.
