After noticing a fish with striking red stripes under its eyes, Chinese scientists knew they’d identified a new species. The fish — a species of tilefish — appears to be wearing red face paint and thus has been named after San, a character from Princess Mononoke, a Studio Ghibli film.
With this rare find, researchers are hoping to learn more about this genus and further investigate the species genetic diversity. The findings were recently published in ZooKeys.
“Finding a new species in this group is a rare and fortunate event, especially one as distinctive as Branchiostegus sanae,” said Haochen Huang, lead author of the new study, in a press release.
The facial markings of Branchiostegus sanae resemble the markings on San's face in Princess Mononoke. Credit: (Fish: Branchiostegus sanae. Huang et al. CC-BY 4.0 Illustration: San from Princess Mononoke © 1997 Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli, ND)
(Fish: Branchiostegus sanae. Huang et ...
