Five species of tropical and subtropical fish, previously unrecorded in South Korea, have been discovered in waters near Jeju Island. Some of these species were observed sharing spawning grounds with native Jeju fish.
The National Institute of Biological Resources, under the Ministry of Climate, Energy, and Environment, announced on November 11 that it found these five unrecorded fish species during underwater surveys conducted from April to recent months in the waters surrounding Jeju.
The newly discovered fish include the bluefin snapper, red-spotted grouper, mottled grouper, yellowfin grouper, and the small-spotted catshark. The common names for these species are provisional and will be confirmed during the process of listing them in the national species catalog.
The National Institute of Biological Resources, in collaboration with researchers from Jeju National University’s College of Ocean Science, conducts monthly underwater explorations to discover unrecorded fish and secure research specimens. The discovered species are primarily southern fish that typically inhabit warm tropical and subtropical waters, such as those around the Philippines, Taiwan, and Okinawa, Japan.
The researchers suspect that the rise in water temperatures and the influence of warm currents in the surrounding waters of South Korea have likely led to the influx of these fish into Jeju waters. Notably, the yellowfin grouper was found sharing spawning grounds with the native grouper species already present in Jeju, and actual spawning behavior was observed. The researchers are paying close attention to the possibility that this species may not only be temporarily present but could also establish itself in Jeju waters.
The increase in the appearance of subtropical fish along South Korea's coast has been observed in other regions as well. A survey conducted by the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute last year off the coast of Busan revealed that out of 212 fish species identified, 151 were subtropical species, accounting for 71% of the total. The average water temperature in the Busan area in 2024 was also found to be approximately 1.2 degrees higher than in 2000.
The National Institute of Biological Resources plans to further analyze the morphology and genetic information of the specimens collected and report the findings at academic conferences and in specialized journals. Following this, they will register the species in the national biological catalog for management as national biological resources and establish a long-term monitoring system to track the discovery of unrecorded fish and changes in species diversity centered around Jeju waters.
Park Jin-young, director of the National Institute of Biological Resources, stated, "The discovery of these unrecorded fish in Jeju waters is an important signal indicating changes in the biodiversity of our coastal and island regions. We will continuously track the status of newly introduced species and changes in their distribution to proactively respond to biodiversity fluctuations in coastal and island areas due to climate change."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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