An ichthyologist has described a new genus of tropical cardinal fishes from the South China Sea.
Artem Prokofiev of the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution at Moscow's Russian Academy of Sciences described had to erect a new genus, which he's named Kurtamia for a new apogonid he found in the South China Sea.
The new species, which has been named Kurtamia bykhovskyi, is now the type species for the genus which is believed to be a sister group to the genus Archamia.
The new fish is similar to Archamia but has foliiform-widened pleural ribs on vertebrae five to nine, as well as a number of other distinguishing features.
According to Prokofiev, the new genus has osteological structures that have striking similarities to members of the family Kurtidae, and he postulates that the two are closely related.
For more information see the paper: Prokofiev, AM (2006) - A New Genus of Cardinalfishes (Perciformes: Apogonidae) from the South China Sea, with a Discussion of the Relationships between the Families Apogonidae and Kurtidae. Journal of Ichthyology, Vol. 46, No. 4, 2006.