Recent News

Turtle Project Has ‘Another Exceptional Year’
Wednesday, October 26, 2016

The Bermuda Turtle Project, based at the Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo, recently finished its 49th year of study of the sea turtles in Bermuda waters.


Island’s turtle mystery unsolved
Monday, October 10, 2016

Mystery surrounds the origin of turtle hatchlings that shocked the island last summer.


Grill night kick-starts new Azu Beastro era
Friday, October 07, 2016

Andy Detzer knew he was facing an uphill battle when he took over Azu Beastro.


Rescued turtle arrives in Florida
Saturday, October 01, 2016

A stricken turtle that was nursed back to health by aquarium staff and successfully released to the wild has travelled more than 1,600 miles to the coast of Florida.


Ocean Tech - Justifying Marine Protection
Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Justifying Marine Protection



About

Governance
About Us
Newsletter
Latest News
Gift & Bookstore

Contact

General Inquiries

(441) 293-2727

info@bzs.bm


Latest News

All the latest updates and news from the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum, and Zoo, one of Bermuda's leading visitor attractions!

Two fish recognised as unique to Island’s waters
Royal Gazette
Tuesday, December 03, 2013

By Owain Johnston-Barnes
Published Dec. 3, 2013 at 8:00 am (Updated Dec. 2, 2013 at 10:33 pm)

RG_131203_1a.jpeg
The yellowfin chromis, one of two species recently recognised
as being endemic to Bermuda by the Smithsonian Institution.

A pair of Bermuda fish species have been recognised by the Smithsonian Institution as being unique to Bermuda’s waters.

The yellowfin chromis and the Collette’s halfbeak have been classified as endemic to Bermuda in an update to the authoritative 1999 Fishes of Bermuda publication. Both species have been known in Bermuda’s waters for some time but were only recently determined to be endemic.

Report writers William Smith-Vaniz and Bruce Collette also identified differences between the endemic Bermuda creole wrasse and its Caribbean relatives, suggesting they may also prove to be endemic.

“We recently became aware of two colour photographs, one of a school and the other of a single individual ... of wrasses from Bermuda (Lucas 2012) identified as clepticus parrae,” the researchers wrote.

RG_131203_1b.jpeg
The Collette’s halfbeak, one of two species recently recognised as being endemic
to Bermuda by the Smithsonian Institution. ((Photo credit to Heidi M. Banford))

“Terminal phase adults are distinctive in having very elongate outer caudal-fin rays, mostly solid blue body and fins and a bright yellow snout. We predict that subsequent research will show these fish to be another Bermuda endemic. All records of clepticus parrae from Bermuda apparently are based on misidentification of this undescribed clepticus.”

They noted the terminal male yellowhead wrasse, called “Redbacks” locally, have different colouration than its counterparts elsewhere in the region.

The Smithsonian also listed several species not previously known to reside in Bermuda, such as the whitenose pipefish, the roughtail stingray, a deepwater opah and blackear wrasse.

A Bermuda Zoological Society spokeswoman said: “In all, 24 new records were listed, and five older records have been discounted as errors, reminding us that we still have much to discover about life on our reefs and that diligent citizen scientists, fishermen and naturalists all have key roles to play.”

The research paper is available at the Natural History Museum Library at the Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo.