National Institute of Honam Heritage finds five previously unrecorded species off Jeju coast as southern fish move north with climate change
The National Institute of Honam Heritage, under the Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy, announced Wednesday that it had discovered five fish species never before recorded in South Korea during diving surveys conducted off the coast of Jeju Island from April through recently.
All five are tropical or subtropical species: Cercamia eremia of the family Apogonidae, Thysanophrys celebica of the family Platycephalidae, Chromis yamakawai of the family Pomacentridae, Fusigobius duospilus of the family Gobiidae and Chaetodon ephippium of the family Chaetodontidae.
Researchers from the institute conducted monthly underwater surveys with a team from the College of Ocean Sciences at Jeju National University, collecting specimens of the newly recorded species for further study.
The fish are southern-range species typically found in tropical and subtropical waters — including those around the Philippines, Taiwan and Okinawa — where sea temperatures remain high year-round. Researchers believe rising ocean temperatures and warm currents likely drove the species into the waters around Jeju Island.
Particularly notable is Chromis yamakawai of the family Pomacentridae: researchers observed it sharing a spawning ground with the native Jeju species Chromis notata and confirmed it was actively spawning there, raising the possibility that it has moved beyond a temporary visit and is establishing a permanent presence in Jeju waters.
The institute plans to conduct further morphological and genetic analysis on the collected specimens and report the findings to the scientific community through conference presentations and peer-reviewed journal publications.
The species will subsequently be added to the National Species List and managed as national biological resources. The institute also plans to establish a long-term monitoring system centered on Jeju waters to track newly unrecorded fish species and observe changes in species diversity.
"The previously unrecorded fish found in Jeju waters this time are an important signal of changing biodiversity in island and coastal environments," said Park Jin-young, director of the National Institute of Honam Heritage. "We will continue to track not only the status of newly arriving species but also shifts in their habitat distribution, so we can proactively respond to climate-driven changes in island and coastal biodiversity."
thlee@heraldcorp.com
