Honam biological resources institute records five tropical fish species new to Korea off Jeju

The Honam National Institute of Biological Resources, under Korea's Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, reported on the 11th that diving surveys off the coast of Jeju Island since April have turned up five fish species not previously recorded in Korea, according to biz.heraldcorp.com. biz.heraldcorp.combiz.heraldcorp.combiz.heraldcorp.comOpen source ↗ All five are tropical or subtropical species.

Five new records for Korea

The species are Cercamia eremia (cardinalfish family), Thysanophrys celebica (flathead family), Chromis yamakawai (damselfish family), Fusigobius duospilus (goby family) and Chaetodon ephippium (butterflyfish family). Institute researchers worked with colleagues from the College of Ocean Sciences at Jeju National University. They carried out underwater surveys every month and collected specimens for research.

The fish are southern species that live mainly in the warm waters of the Philippines, Taiwan and Okinawa, where temperatures are high year-round. The researchers estimate that they most likely reached the waters near Jeju because of rising seawater temperature and the influence of warm currents.

Possible settlement of Chromis yamakawai

Chromis yamakawai shares a spawning ground with Chromis notata, a damselfish already found around Jeju, and spawning has been observed. biz.heraldcorp.combiz.heraldcorp.combiz.heraldcorp.comOpen source ↗ For this reason the researchers are considering that the species may settle in Jeju waters rather than being only a temporary arrival.

The institute plans to analyse the morphology and genetic data of the specimens and to report the results at an academic conference and in a specialist journal. The species are then to be added to the national species list and managed as national biological resources. The institute also intends to build a long-term survey system focused on Jeju waters to find unrecorded fish and track changes in species diversity.

Institute director Park Jin-young said the finds are an important signal of biodiversity change in island and coastal areas. He added that the institute will keep tracking not only the newly arriving species but also shifts in their distribution.