Meet Nemateleotris Lavandula, the Lavender-blushed Dartfish
Dartfish are an excellent addition to reef aquariums as they have a small adult size and a lot of personality. We have long recommended the Firefish to hobbyists looking for a very active, hardy and brightly colored fish. The Helfrichi Firefish is reef safe fish are very skittish, and shouldn’t be housed with aggressive species, or they will spend some of their time hiding. They are known to jump when startled, so be sure to house them in a covered aquarium. This small fish of 2” is full of personality and will make a great addition to smaller aquariums down to 30 gallons or so.
However, the Helfrichi Firefish has recently been redescribed and we have new names for these remarkable fish. Taxonomists have long been trying to make sense of all the different species living within our oceans. They are constantly reevaluating the description of species as we look further into their genetic makeup. Nemateleotris is a very popular genus of dartfish that are most commonly known as Firefish. Back in 1973, John Ernest Randall and Gerald Robert Allen revised described two new species: Nemateleotris decora and Nemateleotris helfrichi. Then again in 2013 the duo described Nemateleotris exquisite,which are found in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea. Yi-Kai Tea and Helen K. Larson recently published a synopsis on the genus Nemateletris and described a new species. They reviewed every specimen of N. helfrichi they could get their hands on in museum collections. Yi-Kai Tea explains “the differences exhibited by the two N. helfrichi populations were compelling and robust. Both do not overlap in distribution, with the black jawed N. helfrichi sensu stricto restricted to French Polynesia and the Cook Islands, and the yellow-headed variety everywhere else.”
Nemateleotris lavandula is the newest species of dartfish and is one we have seen very frequently here at Quality Marine. The species is unique in having pastel fins and a light lavender body, which it shares with N. helfrichi. This research is extremely important to help better understand the mysteries of the ocean and the genetics behind these species. Amazing work Yi-Kai Tea and Helen K. Larson! To learn more about this new species please head to Kai’s Reef Builders article and their published paper.
https://reefbuilders.com/2023/03/17/meet-nemateleotris-lavandula-the-lavender-blushed-dartfish/
https://lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg/publications/raffles-bulletin-of-zoology/volumes/volume-71/