“Despite decades of tirelessly scouring some of the most familiar and remote places on Earth, biodiversity scientists estimate that more than 90% of nature’s species remain unknown,” Shannon Bennett, PhD, and Academy Chief of Science, said.
In total, 17 fish, 15 geckos, eight flowering plants, six sea slugs, five arachnids, four eels, three ants, three skinks, two skates, two wasps, two mosses, two corals, and two lizards were discovered by scientists across five continents and three oceans. Researchers made the incredible finds by “venturing into Croatian caves, diving to extreme ocean depths, and surveying savanna forests,'' the academy said in a statement.
Among the finds was a bright purple fish dubbed Cirrhilabrus wakanda -- a nod to the Marvel comic and hit movie, Black Panther. The colorful species is found in “Twilight Zone” reefs in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Tanzania, about 260 feet below the surface.