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/