{"id":42148,"date":"2024-09-30T12:26:11","date_gmt":"2024-09-30T10:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/12900775-46ad-482a-8202-eb0ad7d1611f"},"modified":"2024-09-30T13:27:29","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T11:27:29","slug":"worlds-grumpiest-fish-discovered-in-the-red-sea-and-scientists-have-given-it-the-perfect-name","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/worlds-grumpiest-fish-discovered-in-the-red-sea-and-scientists-have-given-it-the-perfect-name\/","title":{"rendered":"World’s grumpiest fish discovered in the Red Sea. And scientists have given it the perfect name"},"content":{"rendered":"

At less than 2cm long, this grouchy goby\u00a0is a tiny but fierce predator <\/p>

By Melissa Hobson\n <\/p>

Published: Monday, 30 September 2024 at 10:26 AM<\/p>

\n\n

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.<\/strong><\/p>

When scientists at the\u00a0King Abdullah University of Science and Technology<\/a>\u00a0(KAUST)\u00a0and the\u00a0 University of Washington<\/a>\u00a0first spotted the fish they believed they had found a fiery dwarfgoby (Sueviota pyrios<\/em>). Only one specimen of this rare species has ever been collected, in 1972, and the animal hasn\u2019t been seen since. However, they soon realised that this was another new species altogether that hadn\u2019t yet been described.\u00a0<\/p>

Specimens of\u00a0grumpy dwarfgoby (Sueviota\u00a0aethon).\u00a0a)\u00a0freshly collected\u00a0b)\u00a0freshly collected, showing the yellow variation of the species\u00a0c) preserved in 75% ethanol\/Viktor Nunes Peinemann et al.<\/figcaption><\/figure>World’s weirdest fish<\/a><\/li><\/ul>
When it came to finding a name, they were inspired by the angry face of this tiny fish \u2013 which measures no more than two centimetres long \u2013 and called it the grumpy dwarfgoby.<\/p>
“I imagine in its own tiny world, it is a fearsome predator,\u201d says Luc\u00eda Pombo-Ayora, who chose the name grumpy dwarfgoby. <\/p>
\u201cIts grumpy expression and large canines certainly make it look the part, despite its small size.”<\/p>
The animal is a burning red. Although it looks red in the face with anger, its colouration is actually clever camouflage<\/a>. 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.<\/p>
$\"Grumpy$
Map of the Red Sea showing the localities where specimens of grumpy dwarfgoby were collected\/Viktor Nunes Peinemann et al.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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 \u2013\u00a0 published<\/a>\u00a0in the journal\u00a0 *ZooKeys<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\u2013 has been dampened by worries about its future in a changing climate.<\/p>*
“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.\u201d<\/p>
*$\"Sueviota$* Micro-CT scan of the grumpy dwarfgoby\/Viktor Nunes Peinemann et al.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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.<\/p>
He adds: \u201cIn some cases, species could go extinct before we even describe them.”<\/p>
**More wild stories from around the world<\/strong><\/p>**
**There’s a rare fish in the Red Sea that looks like a guitar<\/a><\/li>**
**Bison snot holds the American prairie together<\/a><\/li>**
**Drone films extraordinary ‘headstanding’ whales in Oregon<\/a><\/li>**
Monstrous dinosaur skeleton found by railway workers in Spain<\/a><\/li><\/ul> <\/body><\/html>\n
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At less than 2cm long, this grouchy goby\u00a0is a tiny but fierce predator <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":42149,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/09\/worlds-grumpiest-fish-discovered-in-the-red-sea-and-scientists-have-given-it-the-perfect-name.jpg",1875,1250,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/09\/worlds-grumpiest-fish-discovered-in-the-red-sea-and-scientists-have-given-it-the-perfect-name-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/09\/worlds-grumpiest-fish-discovered-in-the-red-sea-and-scientists-have-given-it-the-perfect-name-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/09\/worlds-grumpiest-fish-discovered-in-the-red-sea-and-scientists-have-given-it-the-perfect-name-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/09\/worlds-grumpiest-fish-discovered-in-the-red-sea-and-scientists-have-given-it-the-perfect-name-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/09\/worlds-grumpiest-fish-discovered-in-the-red-sea-and-scientists-have-given-it-the-perfect-name-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/09\/worlds-grumpiest-fish-discovered-in-the-red-sea-and-scientists-have-given-it-the-perfect-name.jpg",1875,1250,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"At less than 2cm long, this grouchy goby\u00a0is a tiny but fierce predator","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/42148"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Specimens of\u00a0grumpy dwarfgoby (Sueviota\u00a0aethon).\u00a0a)\u00a0freshly collected\u00a0b)\u00a0freshly collected, showing the yellow variation of the species\u00a0c) preserved in 75% ethanol\/Viktor Nunes Peinemann et al.<\/figcaption><\/figure>World’s weirdest fish<\/a><\/li><\/ul>
When it came to finding a name, they were inspired by the angry face of this tiny fish \u2013 which measures no more than two centimetres long \u2013 and called it the grumpy dwarfgoby.<\/p>
“I imagine in its own tiny world, it is a fearsome predator,\u201d says Luc\u00eda Pombo-Ayora, who chose the name grumpy dwarfgoby. <\/p>
\u201cIts grumpy expression and large canines certainly make it look the part, despite its small size.”<\/p>
The animal is a burning red. Although it looks red in the face with anger, its colouration is actually clever camouflage<\/a>. 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.<\/p>
$\"Grumpy$
Map of the Red Sea showing the localities where specimens of grumpy dwarfgoby were collected\/Viktor Nunes Peinemann et al.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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 \u2013\u00a0 published<\/a>\u00a0in the journal\u00a0 *ZooKeys<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\u2013 has been dampened by worries about its future in a changing climate.<\/p>*
“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.\u201d<\/p>
*$\"Sueviota$* Micro-CT scan of the grumpy dwarfgoby\/Viktor Nunes Peinemann et al.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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.<\/p>
He adds: \u201cIn some cases, species could go extinct before we even describe them.”<\/p>
**More wild stories from around the world<\/strong><\/p>**
**There’s a rare fish in the Red Sea that looks like a guitar<\/a><\/li>**
**Bison snot holds the American prairie together<\/a><\/li>**
**Drone films extraordinary ‘headstanding’ whales in Oregon<\/a><\/li>**
Monstrous dinosaur skeleton found by railway workers in Spain<\/a><\/li><\/ul> <\/body><\/html>\n
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