In the United States, there is the custom of calling the president who is in the final phase of his mandate a ‘lame duck’, without the option of being reelected. This is the case of Barack Obama, who is rushing his last weeks in the Oval Office, but has now also accepted the honor of calling himself after a fish . Or it could be said the opposite: a fish will bear the surname of the still top president of the United States . Discovered six months ago at the Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Monument in Hawaii, the creature in question has been named Tosanoides obama .
“We want to recognize the President’s efforts to preserve the environment , including the expansion of Papahānaumokuākea, ” explained Richard Pyle, a scientist at the Bishop Museum in Hawaii, and lead author of the study detailing the find. Pyle refers to the recent expansion of the reserve, located in the Leeward Islands of the Hawaiian archipelago, promoted by Obama. With its 1,510,000 square kilometers of extension (approximately three times Spain), it is the largest protected area on the planet.
Small in size and pink and yellow in color, Tosanoides obama belongs to the group of grammatids, striking reef fish very popular in aquariums . One of the distinctive signs of the new species is that the males show a circular spot on the dorsal fin, yellow with red stripes –in the center–, and blue –in the edge–. Coincidentally, it is reminiscent of the Obama election campaign logo , as Pyle has explained.
Another peculiarity of the fish is that it is the only one endemic to the Monument ; that is, it is only found in this reserve, unlike other species exclusive to Hawaii. Tosanoides obama was located on the coast of the Kure Atoll (the northernmost of the Hawaiian Islands), almost 100 meters deep. It is what is known as the ‘Twilight Zone’ or Twilight Zone of the reefs . These marine ecosystems are among the least explored and most biodiverse areas on Earth. ” There are many species to discover down there ,” announced Brian Greene, a diver who has collaborated in the discovery of the ‘fish named Obama’.
Photo: Brian Skerry / National Geographic / CC
