The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco is taking us about 138 steps closer--that's the number of new species they've discovered over just this year.
If you think "seen one damselfish, seen them all," not this year.
In his office at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, researcher Luiz Rocha showed off his newly discovered species, named "chromis abadhah." He says the fish could help unlock secrets of the deep water coral reefs they call home in the Northern Indian Ocean--reefs that are showing signs of damage from pollution and warming ocean temperatures.
"So, if in the surface it goes from 29 to 30 Celsius, and the corals bleach on the deep reef, it goes from 17 to 18 Celsius, and they bleach the same way. So, what we're seeing is much more impacts on those deep reefs than people expected," Rocha said.
MORE: Academy of Sciences helps battle coral bleaching while developing new technologies
Academy of Sciences helps battle coral bleaching
For the past year, research teams at the Academy have been uncovering the unexpected, compiling a list of 138 new species discovered around the globe in 2024. This includes dozens of fish species, like the exotic and colorful sponge-dwelling goby; insects like the Jerusalem cricket; and everything from pygmy pipehorses to exotic flowering plants. Chief of Science Shannon Bennett, Ph.D. says the discoveries are critical for understanding where our planet's been and where it's going.
"And then, once you define that identity, you can start to ask questions about where it came from, how it got here, how it's going to persist into the future, how does it work with other species what are its main functions in a living ecosystem?" she said
Both Bennett and Rocha believe understanding the diverse ecosystems is the first step in learning how to better protect them. It's a key goal of the Academy.
"So, we do start to understand habitats a lot better. We start to understand how species are surviving and their habitat and which species need to be there to interact with each other so that the whole ecosystem can thrive," Rocha said.
More than a dozen scientists from the Academy are credited with discovering new species this year, along with collaborators from around the world.