Benoa (Bebeso), a small but colorful freshwater fish native to the Indian Ocean, has long been used in the aquarium industry for its bright colors and distinctive fins.
But now, researchers at the University of Southampton have discovered a new species that can be found in the wild as well, and its colorful fins are a unique feature.
Benoa (R.
lucius) is one of the few freshwater fish in the world that has fins, but the new species, which is named R. lupus, has a distinctive shape and a very large head, and this has made it attractive for aquariums.
The new species has a large, bright-yellow mouth that is topped by a bright-red dorsal fin.
The researchers discovered the new fish while looking for new species of the same genus.
They discovered a species called R. limus (Roxas, lupinus) that is smaller, more delicate, and more brightly colored.
This species is found in northern Madagascar, in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
“It is one species that has never been found before and we thought, ‘Why not?
We should be able to find another species in the same area, or maybe the same location’,” said lead researcher Professor Peter Cairns.
“So we set off with the intention of finding a new family in the area.”
R.
limuis is a very well-known species in Madagascar, having been listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 1985.
It has been on the IUCN Red List since 1993.
However, the new R. Lupus species has yet to be found.
“They’re really small.
I would say they’re about the size of a penny,” said Professor Cairn.
“They’re a bit of a mystery, really.”
It took a team of scientists about four weeks to locate and study the new creature.
The research was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Natural History Museum, and the Natural Science Research Council.
The new species is about 4cm long, and has an extremely light body that is made of a gelatinous material called a gelatin-like matrix.
This gelatinous matrix is covered with tiny, white, dots called “lips”, which are the only way to distinguish R. Limus from other freshwater fish.
“These lips are made of tiny tiny bubbles,” said lead author Dr Claire Gaudron.
“When you pull on one, you feel a sense of heat.
They’re the only thing that will make you know that it’s a freshwater fish.”
While R. LIMUIS has a small body, it has a strong head and fins.
The researchers believe that these small fins allow the fish to move at high speeds in order to survive, as it is a little bit like a boat.
“Its body is very thick and it has really thick fins and it can swim very quickly in a shallow water environment,” said Lead researcher Dr Gaudrons.
“I think this is very unique, because the only fish that swim this fast, they’re really very tiny.”
This fish was found swimming near a lagoon in the Indian coastal town of Banjara, in Mauritius.
The fish was also found in a lagoo in the northern Indian city of Jammu and Kashmir, which has been the site of several human-caused disasters, including an earthquake and the 2007 Indian Ocean tsunami.
The scientists are now studying the evolution of this new species and how it relates to other freshwater species.