The New Species 2022 report from Shoal shines a light on these recently explained types to help deepen human understanding of the richness of the freshwater biodiversity on Earth, and about how these freshwater types engage with their environment and other organisms.
During 2022, 201 brand-new types of freshwater fish were tape-recorded by taxonomists as being brand-new to science, with much of the descriptions being the outcome of several years of effort by scientists.
Highlights of the report consist of the jewel-like black tiger dario, the Juan Deriba killifish, which can jump out of the water and remain on dry land for numerous hours at a time to prevent predation, and 9 types of paracanthopoma, a genus of blood-sucking catfish that aside from vampire bats, are the only jawed vertebrates in the world to feed specifically on blood.
Of the 201 fish explained in the report, 88 were from South America, 68 from Asia, 25 from Africa, 9 from Oceania, 8 from Europe, and 3 from North America. The overall of 201 compares to 212 brand-new freshwater fish types explained in in 2015’s inaugural report covering 2021.
Shoal is a worldwide collective effort backed by UK charity Synchronicity Earth and United States non-profit organisation Re:wild to stop the termination and recuperate populations of the most threatened freshwater types in the wild.
The Shoal New Species 2022 report is produced in collaboration with the California Academy of Sciences, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Freshwater Fish Specialist Group.
Shoal’s executive director Michael Baltzer said: “Shoal’s New Species reports shine a much-needed light on a group of creatures that get very little attention.”
Kathy Hughes, co-chair of the IUCN Freshwater Fish Specialist Group, included: “It might come as a surprise to some to learn that numerous freshwater fish types are explained every
year. But it reveals simply just how much there is for us to discover what lies underneath the surface area of the world’s freshwaters.
“More than half of all fish species live in freshwater, which is remarkable considering less than 1% of Earth’s water is liquid freshwater. Yet humans have historically neglected and mistreated freshwater habitats, meaning that many of these incredible species are at risk of being lost. The reports put a much-needed spotlight on these species, which will ultimately give them a greater chance of being saved.”
