In the ocean, you never know what you might see. This is something that marine ecology researcher Océane Attlan discovered when she was diving off the coast of Albany in Western Australia.
Attlan was diving in the kelp forest with other scientists from the University of Western Australia when a small, brightly coloured fish caught her attention.
“When it appeared, it took me a few seconds to register what I was seeing, because the species is so rarely encountered,” says Attlan in a statement. “Within moments I realised it was something special.”
She had just laid eyes on a Braun’s wrasse (Pictilabrus braun). This diminutive fish grows no larger than 7.5cm long and is incredibly rare. Since its discovery in 1996, it has only been officially recorded once.
Within moments I realised it was something special.
“I got very excited, but out of nine dives that happened to be the only one where I didn’t have a camera on me, so I needed to find a buddy to quickly try to get some shots,” she says.
Luckily, she managed to find a colleague with a camera before the fish vanished into the cover of the kelp. The photos helped them confirm their suspicions that this was a Braun’s wrasse.
This was an exciting moment but it was also a relief to set eyes on the rare creature. “The marine heatwaves that have struck south-west Australia in recent years had raised concerns that the species had gone extinct, making this confirmed sighting particularly important,” she says.
“Documenting rare and endemic species is a crucial step toward understanding, protecting and managing these unique underwater environments.”
Top image: Braun’s wrasse. Credit: The University of Western Australia
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