New Butterflyfish discovered in Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument

Papahanaumokuakea National Marine Monument has just yielded a new species of butterflyfish which appears to be very similar to Prognathodes basabei. The new butterflyfish was discovered by self professed fish nerd Richard Pyle using his signature rebreather deep diving techniques. Dr. Pyle was pretty excited that this new species was discovered in 200 feet of water in the Northwestern Hawaiian islands because in more tropical Hawaii, the species had been sighted at depths of close to 400 feet. We can’t make out what differentiates this fish from the orange margin butterflyfish but we aren’t about to doubt Rich Pyle’s word on this one. The full news report can be seen here, be sure to check out the full video for the glimpse of a masked angelfish and your word of the day is Papahanaumokuakea.

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