JBL Expedition South Seas with first evidence in the region

Normal divers don't even notice the small, somewhat inconspicuous damselfish. It is just one of thousands of Pomacentridae that live in the coral reefs of the South Seas. But aquarists and marine biologists only notice the sharks and manta rays in passing, because their focus is exclusively on this little jewel of the sea.

JBL expedition leader Heiko Blessin discovered a damselfish that he had previously only seen in the Great Barrier Reef and at Lord Howe Island. Descriptions of chromis nitida have only ever been made in these two regions. The photos of the species are the first clear evidence of it in the reefs of French Polynesia, after we sighted c. nitida during our JBL South Pacific Expedition July 2023 in the Tuamotu Archipelago near Toau at a depth of 25 metres.

Tisk