''Tosanoides obama'', Obama's basslet, is a coral reef fish

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

from the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Anthiinae Anthias are members of the family Serranidae and make up the subfamily Anthiinae. Anthias make up a sizeable portion of the population of pink, orange, and yellow reef fishes seen swarming in most coral reef photography and film. The name Anthi ...

part of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Serranidae The Serranidae are a large family of fishes belonging to the order Perciformes. The family contains about 450 species in 65 genera, including the sea basses and the groupers (subfamily Epinephelinae). Although many species are small, in some case ...

, the

grouper Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes. Not all serranids are called "groupers"; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name "grouper" is u ...

s and sea basses. It was discovered in

Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM) (roughly ) is a World Heritage Site, World Heritage listed National Monument (United States), U.S. National Monument encompassing of ocean waters, including ten islands and atolls of th ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. ''Tosanoides obama'' was named after former US President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

in honor of his efforts to preserve natural environments including expanding the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. It was first discovered and described by

Richard Pyle Richard Lawrence Pyle, Ph.D. (born 24 March 1967) is a scuba diver and ichthyologist working on Hawaii. Pyle discovered the principle of " Pyle stops" when decompressing from many deep dives in search of new species of fish, and has identifie ...

, Brian Greene and Randall Kosaki in December 2016. They also noted a distinctive spot on the male's dorsal fin reminiscent of Obama's campaign logo. The fish live in small groups in holes in reefs at a depth of around 90 m. Following the discovery the size of the reserve was increased. ''Tosanoides obama'' is one of six species in the genus '' Tosanoides''.

References

obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

Fish of the United States Natural history of Hawaii Taxa named by Richard Pyle Taxa named by Brian Greene Taxa named by Randall Kosaki Fish described in 2016 Species named after Barack Obama {{Serranidae-stub

See also

References