Biologists from Japan and the Philippines have identified three new species of goby fish, belonging to the genus Lentipes.

One of the new species was found living in the Philippine archipelago of Palawan and has been given the Latin scientific name Lentipes palawanirufus, which translates as «red Lentipes goby of Palawan.» The other two new species were found in Okinawa, a sub-tropical island in Japan, and have been named Lentipes kijimuna and Lentipes bunagaya.

«The names were inspired by Kijimuna and Bunagaya, who are wood spirits in Okinawan folk mythology usually portrayed as having red hair or skin,» said Dr. Ken Maeda, first author of the study and staff scientist in the Marine Eco-Evo-Devo Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST). «Like their namesakes, these two new species have red markings on their body.»

Lentipes kijimuna was the first species discovered back in 2005, when Dr. Maeda found an unfamiliar-looking male goby fish while carrying out fieldwork for his PhD at the University of the Ryukyus.

«I was surprised by its fiery red head and lower body. The shape was similar to Lentipes armatus, which until now, was the only known Lentipes species in Japan, but the color pattern was completely different,» Dr. Maeda recalled.

Color patterning is an easily observable characteristic but the relationship between body color and species is not clear-cut. In some cases, two different fish species can look identical in color pattern, but at other times, fish from the same species can show many variations in color pattern, with each variant of fish known as a color morph.

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Materials provided by Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University. Original written by Dani Ellenby. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.