Chromis abyssus
Encyclopedia
Deep Blue Chromis is a species of Chromis
first discovered in 1997 and described in 2008. The 8 centimetres (3.1 in) fish only lives more than 110 metres (361 ft) below the surface of the Pacific Ocean
around the coast of the Ngemelis Islands, Palau
. Adults have been observed living singly or in pairs whereas juveniles tend to live in groups.
Chromis abyssus was the first species entered into the ZooBank
registry with a timestamp of 2008-01-01T00:00:02, and it was selected as one of "The Top 10 New Species" described in 2008 by The International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University
and an international committee of taxonomists.
, produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which funded the expedition on which the type specimens were collected. The vernacular name “Deep Blue Chromis”, a reference to both the life color of this species and the relatively (within the context of the genus) deep-dwelling habits, is suggested instead of the more literally translated “Abyss Chromis”, so as not to imply that the species inhabits depths commonly defined as “abyssal”.
Chromis
Chromis is a genus of fish in the family Pomacentridae. While the term Damselfish describes a group of marine fish larger than just one genus, most damselfish are in the genus Chromis...
first discovered in 1997 and described in 2008. The 8 centimetres (3.1 in) fish only lives more than 110 metres (361 ft) below the surface of the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
around the coast of the Ngemelis Islands, Palau
Palau
Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...
. Adults have been observed living singly or in pairs whereas juveniles tend to live in groups.
Chromis abyssus was the first species entered into the ZooBank
ZooBank
ZooBank is an open access website intended to be the official International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature registry of zoological nomenclature. It was officially proposed in 2005 by the executive secretary of ICZN...
registry with a timestamp of 2008-01-01T00:00:02, and it was selected as one of "The Top 10 New Species" described in 2008 by The International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
and an international committee of taxonomists.
Etymology
Named abyssus, a Latinized form of the Greek noun abyssos (meaning “abyss”), to honor the documentary film Pacific AbyssPacific Abyss
Pacific Abyss is a three-part series on British television's , which first aired in Sunday 17 August 2008. It is hosted by Kate Humble, Mike Smart and Mike deGruy with filming beginning in April/May 2007....
, produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which funded the expedition on which the type specimens were collected. The vernacular name “Deep Blue Chromis”, a reference to both the life color of this species and the relatively (within the context of the genus) deep-dwelling habits, is suggested instead of the more literally translated “Abyss Chromis”, so as not to imply that the species inhabits depths commonly defined as “abyssal”.