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Entry 294Filed under Breeding

Scientists Identify Duckbilled Clingfish 40 Years After It Was Caught

Caught off Western Australia in 1977, the duckbilled clingfish was identified as a new genus and species in 2017 after CT scans revealed its unusual anatomy.
3-minute read By Animalso Team

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A fish caught off Western Australia in 1977 was formally identified as a new species and genus in 2017: the duckbilled clingfish, Nettorhamphos radula. Its broad, flattened snout and unusual abundance of tiny teeth helped set it apart. Researchers used CT scans and 3-D prints to examine the two known museum specimens without dissecting them.

What is the duckbilled clingfish?

Nettorhamphos radula is a clingfish whose broad, flat upper snout resembles a duck’s bill. Researchers described it as both a new species and the sole member of a new genus in a paper published in Copeia in April 2017. The name “duckbilled clingfish” refers to its distinctive snout, not to a known feeding behavior.

The specimens had been caught offshore from Garden Island, Western Australia, in 1977. They remained in the Western Australian Museum’s collection until researchers examining its fish holdings noticed features that did not match known clingfishes and found a second specimen with similar characteristics. The Western Australian Museum’s account describes the discovery and collection history.

Why did it take 40 years to identify?

The fish had been preserved in a museum collection, where it could be revisited as taxonomic expertise and methods developed. Its unusual form was not recognized as a new genus and species until researchers examined the specimens closely. The delay is the time between capture in 1977 and formal description in 2017; it does not mean the fish itself had been missing for four decades.

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Only two specimens were known to the researchers in the institutional accounts. That is a count of specimens found and known out of water at the time, not evidence that only two duckbilled clingfish exist in the wild. Western Australian Museum Curator of Fishes Glenn Moore said, “A discovery like this highlights the importance of museum collections and reminds us just how much lies waiting to be uncovered.”

How did researchers study the rare specimens?

With only two known specimens, the researchers chose not to dissect them. CT scanning let them examine skeletal features while preserving the fish, and the scan data were used to make enlarged 3-D prints of parts of the mouth and jaws. Those views helped them document the anatomy without cutting into the specimens.

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University of Washington researcher Adam Summers described the method this way: “This CT scan allowed us to take a completely noninvasive look at the entire skeleton of the fish, and it produced a gorgeous set of morphological photos that you couldn’t get from dissection.” The University of Washington’s 2017 account explains the scans and the researchers’ findings.

How many teeth does the duckbilled clingfish have?

The University of Washington reported the researchers’ estimate of 1,800 to 2,300 tiny, conical teeth, roughly ten times the number reported for other known clingfishes. The teeth point backward. Their abundance and structure helped distinguish the fish: lead author Kevin Conway said, “This fish has characteristics we just haven’t seen before in other clingfish. It’s the teeth that really gave away the fact that this is a new species.”

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What the teeth do in the wild is not established. Researchers suggested that backward-pointing teeth might help the fish grip something, but they have not observed the species alive in its natural environment. Its diet and the role of its teeth therefore remain unknown.

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What the discovery does—and does not—tell us

The identification shows how preserved museum specimens can yield new taxonomic discoveries long after collection, especially when researchers can apply imaging methods that leave rare specimens intact. It also establishes a distinctive set of physical traits for Nettorhamphos radula: a flattened, duckbill-like snout and many small, backward-pointing teeth.

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It does not establish how the fish behaves or feeds in the wild, nor does the count of two museum specimens measure its population. The University of Washington release also notes that clingfish can use their belly discs to hold up to 150 times their body weight; that is general context about clingfish suction, not a measurement for this particular species.

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