Sat, Jan 13, 2024 page2

• New endemic fish species found in national park

  • By Hsieh Chieh-yu, Tsai Wen-chu and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writer
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  A new endemic species of fish, named Hemimyzon yushanensis, has been discovered near the Cishan River (旗山溪) and Laonong River (荖農溪) area, researchers said earlier this week.

  The Yushan National Park Management Office commissioned National Taiwan Ocean University to conduct an ecological survey from 2022 to last year.

  The newly discovered H yushanensis is more elongated and has a spotted back, compared with other species of the Hemimyzon family found in Taiwan, the office said on Monday.

  

  A newly discovered endemic species, named Hemimyzon yushanensis, is pictured in an undated photograph.

  Photo courtesy of the Yushan National Park Management Office

  The team, headed by the university’s Institute of Marine Biology professor Chen I-shiung (陳義雄), submitted the findings to the international journal Zootaxa.

  The Hemimyzon family is usually found in rapids with large amounts of highly dissolved oxygen, and their propagation relies on a stable supply of unpolluted running water, the office said.

  The study, which was conducted across all three major water systems in the park — the Jhuoshuei River (濁水溪), the Siuguluan River (秀姑巒溪) and the Kaoping River (高屏溪) — was designed to probe into the park’s biodiversity, the office said.

  The study also recorded how the increased presence of humans — a result of the government’s policies to encourage the public to be closer to nature — has affected local denizens, the office said.

  The stability of stream ecosystems is essential for creating a functional and complete ecosystem, not only in the water, but also in the overall ecosystem, it said.

  The office said it has always tried to conserve the ecosystems, but this cannot be achieved by the office alone, adding that the public needs to help with conservation efforts and not litter when visiting parks or disturb local wildlife.

  Separately, National University of Tainan Department of Biological Sciences associate professor Huang Ming-chih (黃銘志) has also registered newly discovered DNA data with the US National Center for Biotechnology Information and has submitted his findings to the International Scientific Journal as of Jan 5.

  When comparing samples of Bathynomus kensleyi and B jamesi, Huang’s team found that there were 59 different DNA positions amongst 596 known reading sequences, and that the two are separate species, contrary to what the late scientist James Lowry believed.

  The findings show that B kensleyi is endemic to the eastern coast of Australia, concluding that “the correct species identity of Indian species other than Bathynomus keablei remains unknown.

  Three of the four identified species, Bathynomus decemspinosus, B doederlini and B kensleyi, are shown to be misidentifications, as they do not occur in India and the only accepted record is that of Bathynomus keablei, according to Lowry and Dempsey’s 2006 study.
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