New Species 2022 report released
© Frank Schäfer
A fish that can leap out of water to escape predators, an air-breathing catfish, and some blood-sucking vampires highlighted in New Species 2022.
This World Wildlife Day SHOAL release their second annual New Species report, a landmark report detailing the 201 freshwater fish species described in 2022.
The class of 2022 includes:
- The Juan Deriba killifish, which can leap out of water and stay on dry land for hours to escape predators
- The Monsembula catfish, named after Congolese researcher and Greenpeace campaigner Raoul Mosembula
- Nine species of Paracanthopoma, a genus of blood-sucking catfish with nice names like Daemon, Satanica and Vampyra
- Two species of Amazonian darter, the beautiful fin darter and Apuí root darter, whose habitat is being lost to deforestation even as they are being discovered
“SHOAL’s New Species reports shine a much-needed light on a group of creatures that get very little attention.”
Let’s look at the numbers!
Of the 201 freshwater fish first described in 2022, there are:
- 88 from South America
- 68 from Asia
- 25 from Africa
- 9 from Oceania
- 8 from Europe
- 3 from North America
“It may come as a surprise to some to learn that hundreds of freshwater fish species are described every year. But it shows just how much there is for us to learn about what lies beneath the surface of the planet’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. SHOAL’s annual New Species reports, in collaboration with the IUCN Freshwater Fish Specialist Group and the California Academy of Sciences, puts a much-needed spotlight on these species, which will ultimately give them a greater chance of being saved.”
New Species 2022 is a collaboration…
…between SHOAL, the IUCN Freshwater Fish Specialist Group, and the California Academy of Sciences. As well as highlighting the newly described species, it deep dives into a selection of fish species and showcases some of their incredible adaptations.
The report is the second edition of SHOAL’s annual release of New Species reports. New Species 2021 showcased the 212 freshwater fish described in 2021, and is available to read here.
