December 2019 – BIOL 125 Blog Fall 2019 10 AM

Ancistrus: Bristlenose Catfish-Post 3

Madeline Warren

5 December 2019

A group of scientists discovered six new species of fish while exploring in the Amazon Rainforest. The six species included Ancistrus Patronus (pictured), commonly known as Bristlenose Catfish. The fish are found in rivers in the Amazon Rainforest (Live Science). Lesley de Souza is a Marine Biologist, who stumbled upon the species while she was searching for catfish in Brazil (National Geographic). de Souza said she was fishing for food and that later on, she realized she had eaten some of her findings. She was with her advisor Jonathan Armbruster, a Marine Biologist who specializes in fish. The pair along with their colleagues examined many types of catfish while in the Amazon (National Geographic). Armbruster was also the photographer who took the pictures of the newly discovered fish. de Souza published a scientific journal with the crew’s findings in February of 2019.

Much of their history is still unknown, but the Bristlenose fish have sharp, pointy tentacle-like facial features that help ward off their predators (Live Science). The features are also used for mating. The female fish spot the attention-drawing tentacles on the male and assume he has enhanced protective skills and can fend off threats to future children, therefore, making a good mate. This species is called Ancistrus Patronus, which means “protector” and is one of the six discovered by de Souza and her team (Live Science). Due to the deforestation of the Amazon and other threats, de Souza explained that the catfish may be at risk, but that these findings will help with conservation because it will allow other scientists to understand and study the creatures residing in the region (National Geographic).

Figure 1: Armbruster, Jonathan. “Ancistrus Patronus or ‘Protector’ Was One of Six New Species of Bristlenose Catfish Discovered in the Amazon.” Live Science, 13 Feb. 2019, www.livescience.com/64763-catifsh-species-head-tentacles.html.

Works Cited

Arnold, Carrie. “New Species of Spiky-Faced Catfish Discovered.” Six New Species of Bristlenose Catfish Discovered in South America, 11 Feb. 2019, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/02/bristlenose-catfish-discovered-amazon/. Accessed 5 Dec. 2019.

“These Newfound Catfish Species Are Either the Ugliest Fish Ever or Super Adorable.” LiveScience, Purch, https://www.livescience.com/64763-catifsh-species-head-tentacles.html. Accessed 5 Dec. 2019.

Jasmine Tran: The Olinguito

Each year there are over thousands of new species that are discovered by professionals. Most of the newly discovered species result in insects, but over the past ten years there have been mammals that were lately identified. One of the mammals that were recognized was the olinguito, scientifically known as the bassaricyon neblina. This species was discovered in August of 2013, in the forest lands of Columbia and Ecuador. It is known to be a cute, furry animal that physically looks like a mix between a teddy bear and a cat. Because the olinguito was recently discovered, there is not a significant amount of information about the mammal, but what is known is interesting material.

The olinguito has a specific need of living in a forestry habitat. Coming from the scientific name of the olinguito, “Neblina” is the spanish term for fog, which describes the type of environment this animal lives in (Smithsonian Scientists). This species is acknowledged as one of the most rare animals that have been discovered in thirty-five years. The reason it is so rare is because it is part of the carnivora family, known as the “flesh devourers”, meaning they devour any living thing, whether it is a plant or an animal (Carnivore). The adorable creature most of the time feasts on fruit or nectar, sometimes even insects (Animalia). The olinguito is the smallest family in the procyonidae family. This family includes animals such as raccoons, coatis, and kinkajous (Animalia). Although this species is fairly new, the population of it is not growing at a fast rate because olinguitos that are fertile can only carry one offspring at a time. The lifespan of olinguitos have researched to be twenty to twenty-five years, just from the research of the recent olinguitos. The population size is unknown because it is so new, but there have already been threats of deforestation and the population of this species to decrease because the lack of environment (Animalia). Because of the animal being newly researched, this limited information is the current knowledge of the species that had been leaked to the public.

With new technology and easier access to discover modern items, residents that lived near the area of which this species lived would take pictures and videos and send them to researchers where they would explore the animal (Five Facts). Professionals at the Smithsonian Museum studied the DNA of this species to identify the exact information needed to analyze. Kristofer Helgen, curator of mammals at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History mentioned that the discovery of this carnivore is significant because it is the “first step toward understanding the full richness and diversity of life on earth” (Smithsonian). Helgen is also known to be the one who had discovered the olinguito back in 2013. With over a decade of research on this species, Helgen visited the homeland of the olinguito and finally laid his eyes on one. This research began when Helgen was working at the Chicago Field Museum in 2003. He discovered a patch of fur that he was not familiar with, one with much denser hair than the ones he has seen (CNN). Thus, this had triggered his fascination of the fur and Helgen, along with his team, detected facts of the olinguito from artifacts that belonged to the museum. Their work, to this day, has been significant in the world of species.

With the new discovery of species over the years, it shows how diverse our world is. Many new species are found and researched; There are so many found within a year, we may not even know more than half of the species that surround us. Some even dating back to millions of years ago but have just recently been discovered. The research and work put into discovering new species is impeccable. This work allows humans to be aware of the amazing world we live in and the beautiful living life that lives within it. In the depiction below in figure 1 is an image of the olinguito in it’s natural, forest habitat.

Figure 1. “Smithsonian Scientists Discover New Carnivore: the Olinguito” Smithsonian Insider. 15 August 2013. https://insider.si.edu/2013/08/olinguito/

Works Cited

AMNH. “Five Facts: The Olinguito”. American Museum of Natural History. 2015 February 20. https://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/from-the-collections-posts/five-facts-the-olinguito

“Olinguito” Animalia. http://animalia.bio/olinguito

Landau, Elizabeth. “Olinguito The Newest Rare Mammal Species Discovery. CNN. 2013 August 16. https://www.cnn.com/2013/08/15/world/americas/new-mammal-smithsonian/index.html

Stains James Howard and Lariviere Serge. “Carnivore” Encyclopedia of Britannica. 2017 August 16. carnivore-mammal

The Sorting Hat Spider – Janae Voss

The Sorting Hat Spider

Janae Voss

Many new species have been discovered in the past decade. The species I chose to research is called the sorting hat spider. The scientific name of the species is Eriovixia gryffindor.(Greene, par. 8)

In 2016, the sorting hat spider was discovered in India by researchers from Mumbai. The researchers that are credited with the discovery are Javed Ahmad, Rajashree Khalap, and Sumukha Javagal. (Singh, par. 3)

The sorting hat spider was discovered in the Kan Forest of the Western Ghats in southwest India. The researchers found the spider in a bush, approximately 4 feet off the ground. The sorting hat spider’s habitat is known as a diversity hotspot. The spider is provided protection by local villagers that allow for the diversity.(Hrala, par. 7) A safe environment is important to the sorting hat spider because only one of them has been found.(Greene, par. 10)

The researchers have carefully observed the behavior of the sorting hat spider. The sorting hat spider is a member of the Eriovixia genus which contains 20 other species of spiders in Africa and Asia. This particular spider earned its name because it has a shape similar to the sorting hat from the Harry Potter books. The sorting hat spider is only 7mm in length and takes the shape of a hat. During the day the sorting hat spider resembles a dry leaf in order to protect itself from predators.(Singh, par. 5) The spider is also nocturnal and weaves orb-shaped webs in the night.(Greene, par.10)

Works Cited

Greene, Sean. “In 2016, Scientists Discovered 18,000 New Species .” latimes.com. Los Angeles Times, 22 May 2017, https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-new-species-top-10-20170522-htmlstory.html. 4 Dec. 2019.

Hrala, Josh. “Scientists Have Named This New ‘Sorting Hat’ Spider After a Harry Potter Character .” sciencealert.com. Science Alert, 15 Dec. 2016, https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-named-this-new-sorting-hat-looking-spider-species-after-a-harry-potter-character. 4 Dec. 2019.

Vijay Singh. “New Spider Named After Harry Potter Character.” timesofindia.com. Times of India , 10 Dec. 2019, https://m.timesofindia.com/home/science/Spider-named-after-Harry-Potter-character/amp_articleshow/55930913.cms. 4 Dec. 2019.

The Aphrodite

By: Elizabeth Havey

A new very colorful type of coral reef fish has recently been discovered. This colorful fish was found in the Atlantic Ocean way off of the Brazilian cost in 2017 (Adams). The discovery of this fish was made by a group of scientists from California (Adams). In an article called “Sensational Tosanoides Aphrodite Described from St. Paul’s Rock” it says that as soon as the scientist saw the fish, they knew they had discovered a brand-new species. The fish was discovered around the depth of 400 feet in the Atlantic. The scientist that were diving in the Atlantic caught a glimpse of the fish with its bright colors and were unsure of what they saw. They were taken back by what they saw but still decided to get closer to investigate what it was. Once they got closer, they realized that it was some kind of fish but one that they have never seen before (Solly).

The name of the colorful fish is The Tosanoides Aphrodite. It is the first member of its genus to be discovered in the Atlantic Ocean (Adams). There are only four fish that make up this genus and the other three of them were found in the Pacific Ocean (Solly). The male and the female look different for each other. The males have a lot of bright colors and the females is one solid orange with some yellow as well (Adams). The male has colors like neon yellow, bright pink and purple. This particular fish was named after the Greek goddess Aphrodite the goddess of beauty because of the colors that the fish have. Currently scientist believe that the very colorful fish use their colors as camouflage but are still trying to understand why they have the colors they do (Solly). In figure one a female Aphrodite is shown. As you can see, they are pretty brightly colored and would stand out in the ocean.

Figure 1. “New Species of Wrasse Tosanoides Male” by Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0,

Works Cited

Adams, Jake. “Sensational Tosanoides Aphrodite Described from St. Paul’s Rock.” Reef Builder, 25 Sept. 2018, www.//reefbuilders.com/2018/09/25/tosanoides-aphrodite/

Solly, Meilan. “Newly Discovered Neon Fish Species is Named After Greek Goddess of Love.” SmartNews, The Smithsonian, 26 Sept. 2018, www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/newly-discovered-neon-fish-species-named-after-greek-goddess-love-180970409/