Fish > Characins
The Brazilian Blind Characid (Stygichthys typhlops) is one of the most enigmatic stygobitic vertebrates on the South American continent. First discovered in 1962 inside an artisanal well in northern Minas Gerais, Brazil, this pale subterranean fish vanished from...
Fish > Perch-like Fishes
The Bluebarred Pygmy Sunfish (Elassoma okatie) is a diminutive freshwater fish native to the enchanting blackwater ecosystems of the South Carolina Lowcountry. Despite its common name, pygmy sunfishes are not true centrarchid sunfishes but belong to their own distinct...
Fish > Perciformes
The Brazilian Gramma (Gramma brasiliensis) is a stunning, vibrantly colored basslet endemic exclusively to the coral reefs and rocky marine archipelagos of eastern Brazil. Celebrated as the South American counterpart to the Caribbean Royal Gramma, this small,...
Fish > Syngnathiformes
Pontoh’s Pygmy Seahorse (Hippocampus pontohi) is one of the smallest vertebrates inhabiting the marine realm. Named in honor of Indonesian dive guide Hence Pontoh who discovered it off Bunaken Island in North Sulawesi, this miniature syngnathid belongs to the...
Fish > Tetraodontiformes
The Scrawled Cowfish (Acanthostracion quadricornis) is one of the most eccentric and visually mesmerizing reef dwellers of the tropical Western Atlantic. Renowned for its rigid box-like carapace and pair of horn-like spines projecting over its eyes, this docile member...
Fish > Gobiiformes
Annie’s Freshwater Goby (Stiphodon annieae) is a jewel-like amphidromous sicydiine goby native to the torrential volcanic streams of North Maluku in the Indonesian archipelago. Named in honor of Annie Keith, this diminutive torrent dweller exhibits some of the...
Fish > Cypriniformes
The Eyeless Golden-line Barbel (Sinocyclocheilus anophthalmus) is a quintessential cave-adapted cyprinid fish endemic to the subterranean limestone aquifers of Yunnan Province in southwestern China. Described in 1988 as China’s first documented completely blind...
Fish > Orectolobiformes
The Burmese Bamboo Shark (Chiloscyllium burmensis) is an intriguing, rarely documented species of longtailed carpet shark native to the northern Bay of Bengal off the coast of Myanmar. First described by marine ichthyologist Paul Dingerkus and William De Witt in 1986,...
Fish > Tetraodontiformes
The Sharptail Mola (Masturus lanceolatus) is one of the ocean’s most colossal and mysterious bony fishes. A close relative of the famous ocean sunfish (Mola mola), this deep-diving pelagic giant is instantly distinguished by a prominent, sword-like pointed...
Fish > Percopsiformes
The Northern Cavefish (Amblyopsis spelaea) is one of North America’s most iconic obligate subterranean vertebrates (stygobites). Confined entirely to perpetual darkness within the deep limestone cave systems of Indiana and Kentucky—including the famed Mammoth...
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