M. McKnight

After nearly 35 years, a color-changing fish known for its red “fingers” has a proper name. Scientists from the College of the Environment’s School of Aquatic & Fisheries Sciences announced the name of a new genus and species of frogfish, small, stocky creatures found in tropical and subtropical oceans. It was first seen and collected in Australia in 1980 by a University of Washington graduate student, but the sole specimen disappeared soon after, leaving researchers no option but to shelve the discovery. Recently, fisheries professor Ted Pietsch and another UW graduate student again located the elusive fish and helped collect new specimens. After sequencing its DNA, they realized they had actually discovered a new genus and species—now named Porophryne erythrodactylus, or Red-fingered anglerfish.