Discovering new species Thrissina in Ha Long Bay World Natural Heritage Area

19/04/2021

Scientists from the Institute of Marine Resources and Environment under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology and the Center for Molecular Diversity Research (National Museum of Nature and Science, Japan) have described and announced a new species of Thrissina from the waters of Ha Long Bay World Natural Heritage Site, Quang Ninh province. This new species was named Thrissina belvedere sp. Nov. This is the 5th new species of marine fish recorded for marine fish fauna, discovered by the Institute of Marine Resources and Environment and its partners in Vietnam.

Thrissina is a species of the Engraulidae fish family of a group of floating fish commonly found in coastal waters, has high economic value and is a popular catch of coastal fisheries. So far, 10 species of this family have been discovered in the waters of Vietnam (including this new species).

The Thrissina belvedere sp. nov. was collected in samples from ships and boats exploiting the coastal areas of Halong Bay in 2014, 2017, and 2018 and partly supported by the key research project at Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology level (VAST06.04/18-19) and named after the sampling location and, until now, only distributed in Ha Long Bay.

Thrissina belvedere sp. Nov

This new species has been published in the Journal of Icthyological Research, No. 67, pages 473-482 in 2020 (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-020-00743-9).

Translated by Tuyet Nhung
Link to Vietnamese version