At less than 2cm long, this grouchy goby is a tiny but fierce predator
Researchers who discovered a glowering fish with a downturned mouth and large canine teeth have given the new species a name fitting its menacing appearance: the grumpy dwarfgoby.
When scientists at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and the University of Washington first spotted the fish they believed they had found a fiery dwarfgoby (Sueviota pyrios). Only one specimen of this rare species has ever been collected, in 1972, and the animal hasn’t been seen since. However, they soon realised that this was another new species altogether that hadn’t yet been described.
When it came to finding a name, they were inspired by the angry face of this tiny fish – which measures no more than two centimetres long – and called it the grumpy dwarfgoby.
“I imagine in its own tiny world, it is a fearsome predator,” says Lucía Pombo-Ayora, who chose the name grumpy dwarfgoby.
“Its grumpy expression and large canines certainly make it look the part, despite its small size.”
The animal is a burning red. Although it looks red in the face with anger, its colouration is actually clever camouflage. Grumpy dwarfgobies are usually found hiding in tiny crevices on coral walls and overhangs covered in red coralline algae, so matching their colour helps it to blend in. It uses its large canines to capture tiny invertebrates to eat.
The researchers first saw the grumpy dwarfgoby in the Farasan Banks, Saudi Arabia, before finding more specimens near Thuwal in the Red Sea. The excitement of finding a new species – published in the journal ZooKeys – has been dampened by worries about its future in a changing climate.
“The ongoing discovery of distinctive new species like this grumpy dwarfgoby shows how much biodiversity remains undiscovered in the Red Sea,” says researcher Viktor Nunes Peinemann who first found the animal during a dive. “This is concerning given the recent environmental changes in the region.”
Like other regions around the world, the Red Sea is experiencing many threats because of climate change. Red Sea reefs have seen extensive coral bleaching and mortality. If temperatures continue to rise, the grumpy dwarfgoby, and many other animals that call the Red Sea home, could be in peril.
He adds: “In some cases, species could go extinct before we even describe them.”
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