Recent News
You can help with reef surveyWednesday, June 18, 2014
Budding environmentalists are again being urged to volunteer to help monitor the health of Bermuda’s reef systems.
Citizen scientists invited to participate in Reef Watch
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Islanders are being invited to become citizen scientists while helping to protect Bermuda’s reef system at the second annual Reef Watch event.
Plans Gear Up As Reef Watch 2014 Approaches
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Reef Watch 2014 is scheduled for Saturday, June 28th and members of the community are invited to become Citizen Scientists and participate in an island-wide effort to help monitor the health of Bermuda’s reef systems.
Staff and volunteers praised for their work
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
The volunteers, staff and organisations that helped to make Bermuda’s celebration of World Oceans Day a success are being praised for their “amazing work”.
Charities benefit from $303,640 raised by Catlin End-to-End
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
The Catlin End-to-End Walk raised more than $300,000 for a host of local charities.
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Latest News
All the latest updates and news from the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum, and Zoo, one of Bermuda's leading visitor attractions!
By Owain Johnston-Barnes
Published Dec. 3, 2013 at 8:00 am (Updated Dec. 2, 2013 at 10:33 pm)
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.
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.