New Species of Fish Found in Gulf Coast Spill Zone Raises New Questions

In the Gulf of Mexico, near the Deepwater Horizon oil leak two new species of pancake batfish have been found. The "Louisiana pancake batfish" appears to live entirely in the northern Gulf where the water is deeply contaminated and polluted. The second form of pancake batfish seems to have a wider range of travel.

Pancake batfish are a type of anglerfish. Anglerfish are one of the oldest known forms of fish. A 15 million year old anglerfish fossil has been discovered. They have flattened bodies, wiggling "feelers" on their face, elbowed fins (for walking on the sea floor) and are about as thick as a fluffy pancake. The feelers or lures are where the nose on a mammal would be and they attract passerby to become the anglerfish's lunch. Batfish excrete a chemical from their lure to attract their prey, rather than attracting it through illumination like many other forms of sea life. But they are very small, only about the size and shape of the space between your forefinger and thumb says Prosanta Chakrabarty of Louisiana State University's Museum of Natural Science in Baton Rouge.

The species were found when Hsuan-Ching Ho of the Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan was visiting the Gulf Coast region and noticed that not all batfish were created equal. Expeditions found that these were a new species, with one of the main differences being in the tiny projections in the new species that roughen skin. The other being that the one species travels farther out for food.

The Gulf Coast is home to one of the largest sea grass beds in the world as well as is a spawning ground for the small tooth sawfish. John Sparks of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, said, "If we are still finding new species of fishes in the Gulf, imagine how much diversity, especially micro diversity, is out there that we do not know about. These discoveries underscore the potential loss of undocumented biodiversity that a disaster of this scale may portend." As the oil spreads, Dean Grubbs of Florida State University's Coastal & Marine Laboratory in St. Teresa says he's thinking of the many ecological treasures at risk that aren't making the news nightly.

There are many questions about this discovery. Can this species that calls the Gulf Coast home survive? There is hope since anglerfish have been around for millions of years and given the changes on the Earth during that time, they seem to have a surprising ability to adapt and survive. However, even with their ability to adapt they may lose a main source of food, as the plankton in this food chain is destroyed. That leads us to our next question, what are the changes that will occur to the rich sea life located in Gulf Coast due to the exposure not only to the oil spill, but also to the many chemicals and other pollutants used to clean it up. These changes not only affect the food chain, the environment but also the fishing, travel and tourism industry that our Gulf Coast states like Louisiana depend on. I know here in Houston, I have considered as have many others "Is it safe to eat" before we order our fish, shrimp, and other favorite seafood dishes.

As more efforts to "clean up the mess" progress the topic of the oil spill is less and less on the news, but it still affects the Gulf Coast region and its inhabitants each day. "I just hope people will still care next year," Chakrabarty says. So do I.

Related article:

5 Environmentally Friendly Alternatives to Cleaning Up the Gulf Oil Spill Disaster

Sources:

Journal of Fish Biology

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