Newly discovered butterflyfish named in honor of diver

Scientists have named a new species of butterflyfish discovered in the deep reefs of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument after a veteran Kona diver who has assisted in collecting reef fishes in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands for numerous scientific studies and educational displays.

The new fish, Prognathodes basabei, is named after Pete Basabe, an experienced deep diver from Kona who “was instrumental in providing support for the dives that produced the first specimen of the fish that now bears his name,” according to a news release Tuesday from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Scientists from Bishop Museum and NOAA published a description of a new species of butterflyfish in a study published Tuesday in the scientific journal Zoo-Keys.

“Butterflyfish are the glamour fish of the coral reefs,” Richard Pyle, Bishop Museum scientist and lead author on the publication, said in the NOAA news release. “They are colorful, beautiful, and have been very well-studied worldwide. Finding a new species of butterfly fish is a rare event.”

“Discoveries such as this underscore how poorly explored and how little we know about our deep coral reefs,” said Randall Kosaki, NOAA scientist and co-author of the study. “Virtually every deep dive we do takes place on a reef that no human being has ever seen.”

The NOAA news release said the butterflyfish was first seen in video taken from manned submersibles more than 20 years ago, at depths as great as 600 feet.

Although Pyle and University of Hawaii marine biologist E.H. “Deetsie” Chave recognized this as a potential new species, “it was many years before technical divers using advanced electronic closed-circuit rebreathers were able to collect and preserve specimens in a way that would allow proper scientific documentation as an undescribed species,” the NOAA release said.

The new butterflyfish has been encountered regularly on deep exploratory dives up to 330 feet on NOAA expeditions to Papahanaumokuakea.

“Deep coral reefs at depths of 150 to 500 feet, also known as mesophotic coral ecosystems or ‘the coral-reef twilight zone,’ are among the most poorly explored of all marine ecosystems. Deeper than most scuba divers can venture, and shallower than most submersible-based exploration, these reefs represent a new frontier for coral reef research,” the NOAA news release said.

The new butterflyfish was collected on a NOAA expedition to Papahanaumokuakea in June and are now on display at Bishop Museum in Honolulu and at the Mokupapapa Discovery Center in Hilo. An additional specimen is at the Waikiki Aquarium.

President Barack Obama visited Midway Atoll last week after expanding Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument from 139,797 square miles to 582,578 square miles, an area roughly twice the size of Texas — making it the largest marine protected area on Earth.

“This new discovery illustrates the conservation value of very large marine protected areas,” said Kosaki. “Not only do they protect the biodiversity that we already know about, they also protect the diversity we’ve yet to discover. And there’s a lot left to discover.”

The article, “Prognathodes basabei, a new species of butterflyfish (Perciformes: Chaetodontidae) from the Hawaiian Archipelago,” by Richard L. Pyle and Randall K. Kosaki, can be viewed online at 808ne.ws/2ceWkKl.