‘Swampy’ river creature found hidden among tree roots turns out to be a new species


Aspen Pflughoeft
Thu, June 22, 2023 

Wading into a shallow river in the country of Georgia, scientists scanned the water for movement. Hidden among the tree roots, they caught a “yellowish” creature. It was a new species.

Researchers were surveying a section of the Alazani River, according to a study published May 30 in Biodiversity Data Journal. Using electric fishing devices, they temporarily stunned several fish and scooped the animals from the water.

Initially, researchers identified the fish as a known species of freshwater goby. “Gobies are small-sized fish that mostly inhabit saline and brackish waters,” the study said.

But when the researchers tested the fish’s DNA, the results indicated they’d captured an unknown species. The fish from the Alazani River had between 3.5% and 4.8% genetic divergence from the region’s known goby fish, the study said.

Closer analysis of the fish’s scale patterns and body proportions confirmed the genetic analysis, researchers said. This was a new species.

The new species was named Ponticola alasanicus, or the Alazani goby, after the river where it was discovered, the study said.

The Alazani goby is “relatively short,” reaching about 3 inches in length, researchers said. The fish has a “yellowish-gray” coloring “with dark brown and black blotches” down its body. Photos show an Alazani goby swimming in an aquarium.

A Ponticola alasanicus, or Alazani goby, swimming in an aquarium. Photo from Epitashvili, Japoshvili and Mumladze (2023)

Over a two year span, researchers found 20 Alazani gobies in Tsitsmatiant Psha, a tributary of the Alazani River running near Shakriani, Kakheti, the study said. The fish were typically found by “submerged trees and roots” in “swampy” parts of the river.

Researchers classified the Alazani goby as a vulnerable species due to its limited range, the “extensive use of pesticides and fertilizers” in the surrounding area and “frequent” illegal fishing, the study said.

“Diversity of freshwater organisms in (Georgia) remains poorly studied, including fishes,” researchers said. “It is expected that the fish diversity in Georgia is much higher.”

The research team included Giorgi Epitashvili, Bella Japoshvili and Levan Mumladze.

Shakriani, Kakheti, is about 70 miles northeast of Tbilisi, the country’s capital. Georgia is situated at the intersection of eastern Europe and western Asia. The country borders Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey.