Taiwanese researcher Ho Hsuan-ching (何宣慶) has discovered five new species of batfish, despite having to spend weeks in quarantine because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The deep-sea batfish, or Halieutopsis, a genus under the family Ogcocephalidae, have been recorded as deep as 4,000m.
As the genus is one of the most rarely seen fish, there is a lack of research on it, Ho said on Friday, adding that many specimens of the genus at museums have been misidentified.
Photo courtesy of Ho Hsuan-ching
“In addition, piecemeal sampling in different geographic regions, combined with a general paucity of specimens, has inevitably meant that some species have been overlooked,” he wrote in a study published in the Journal of Medical Science and Engineering.
Ho said his paper examined most specimens of the genus in collections around the world, with the purpose of reviewing previously identified species and providing new morphological and distributional data for each of them; naming and describing any new species from the genus; providing a key to the species under Halieutopsis; and commenting on the systematics of the genus and its biogeography.
Ho said there were some specimens that he must see in person to identify very minute differences from species to species, resulting in Ho spending at least 35 days in quarantine just for visits to France and the Arabian Peninsula.
The paper not only looked at the 11 existing species of the Halieutopsis genus, but also introduced five new species: Halieutopsis echinoderma from eastern Taiwan and northeastern Australia, Halieutopsis kawaii from Taiwan and Indonesia, Halieutopsis okamurai from southeastern Japan, Halieutopsis murrayi from the Gulf of Aden and Halieutopsis taiwanea from northeastern Taiwan, Ho said.
Batfish are rarely seen. They are so uncommon that one might not see one over the course of an entire lifetime, Ho said.
Attempts to categorize deep-sea fish, especially one that is so rare, is difficult, so his research has taken him across the world to museums, large and small, to gather information, Ho said.
Several decades is insignificant compared with the length of human history, but it has taken academics two generations of hard work to complete research on Halieutopsis, and this in itself carries significant weight, Ho said.
This story has been amended since it was first published.
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taipei placed 14th in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Best Student Cities 2026 list, its highest ever, according to results released yesterday. With an overall score of 89.1, the city climbed 12 places from the previous year, surpassing its previous best ranking of 17th in 2019. Taipei is “one of Asia’s leading higher-education hubs,” with strong employer activity scores and students “enjoying their experience of the city and often keen to stay after graduation,” a QS staff writer said. In addition to Taipei, Hsinchu (71st), Tainan (92nd), Taichung (113th) and Taoyuan (130th) also made QS’ list of the top 150 student cities. Hsinchu showed the
Environmental groups yesterday filed an appeal with the Executive Yuan, seeking to revoke the environmental impact assessment (EIA) conditionally approved in February for the Hsieh-ho Power Plant’s planned fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving station off the coast of Keelung. The appeal was filed jointly by the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group, the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association and the Keelung City Taiwan Head Cultural Association, which together held a news conference outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei. Explaining the reasons for the appeal, Wang Hsing-chih (王醒之) of the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group said that the EIA failed to address
RSS