The 19th century was a golden age for ichthyological exploration. It signified an era of what seemed like an endless slew of new discoveries, where even the most iconic and noble of species we know today were without names. Taxonomists were still making sense of the creatures living beneath the waves, putting names to things living on coral reefs so bejewelled one could hardly imagine. Indeed, when it came to making sense of specimens back in those days, a little bit of imagination would often go a long way.
您会发现，尽管有大量的生物从原始的海洋中涌出，但其中许多生物几乎没有活着或原地看到。相机技术是初期的，虽然当时几乎没有用，但在19世纪后半叶就很普遍。自然历史插图是伴随物种描述的主要示意图，但是在垂死或长期死亡的标本之前，在伸到分类学家的手之前，这也有其局限性。
一个这样的例子是nemateleotris，一个几乎没有少数物种的小属，但都可以毫无明显的美丽，它们的分布在遍布印度太平洋的时都大大伸展。每个物种都以自己独特的方式引人入胜，甚至都不熟悉海洋水族徒的新手。
The genus was first erected by Henry Weed Fowler in 1938 for a small, but “exquisite little eleotrid” fish obtained from Sulawesi during theAlbatrossexpeditions. Typical of the situation then, Fowler was unaware of its colouration in life, though he was sufficiently impressed by the specimen that he named itnemateleotrisMagnifica。The prefix of his new genus is appropriate, and is from the GreekNemat意思是线程，指他的新物种的长丝状第一背鳍。后缀不是，因为鱼不是一个元素，而是鹅卵。据推测，这个后缀是由于未经未经的骨盆鳍而给出的nemateleotris，对于gobiidae的不寻常状态，但对埃利特里科来说是正常的。
Aquarists would be correct in recognising these fishes as gobies, but the more astute would have probably seen the following families and subfamilies used interchangeably, either in the literature, or in older field guides: the Ptereleotridae/nae, and the Microdesmidae/nae; the -dae suffix here denoting a family level rank, and the -nae suffix denoting subfamilial division. Today, most ichthyologists recognise only a single family (the Gobiidae) for the aforementioned fishes, with the ptereleotrines and the microdesmines used only as informal classifications, the former for the dartfishes, and the latter for the worm fishes. I spared you the ensuing taxonomic back and forth here, but if you’re curious about the history of these classifications, you’ll find a nice summary in the Introduction section of the paper linked at the end of this article.
快进1973年，福勒（Fowler）nemateleotris已经从一个卑微的三个物种,as a result of a revision of the genus by John (Jack) Ernest Randall and Gerald (Gerry) Robert Allen. I’m not sure why I referred to Jack and Gerry by their full names here, but I thought I’d give them the same treatment as I did when introducing Fowler at the start of this article. In their revision ofnemateleotris，，，，Randall and Allen describednemateleotrisdecoraandnemateleotrishelfrichi。Two brand new species, each more beautiful than the last. LikeMagnifica，，，，the Latindecorawas given after the splendid appearance of their new species in life. This etymological indulgence ended withN. Helfrichi，，，，whose name was given not after how nice these fishes looked in life (seriously, we get it), but after Dr Philip Helfrich, the Associate Director of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology of the University of Hawaii and Director of the Enewetak Marine Biological Laboratory at the time. He was given this honour for being among the first to collect specimens of this new species.
nemateleotris一段时间以来，它的三个物种被触及了一段时间。除了在较高的分类分类时来回的持续来回之外，该属坚决持续了近40年，没有新的物种发现。安静。这是Goby属的CrèmeDelaCrème。是吗？在印度太平洋地区只有三个（尽管华丽）？如果nemateleotris是一家独家夜总会，那将是Berghain。
That is until 2013, when Randall and Allen Connell describednemateleotris精美- 随之而来的是，上词的回归强调了他们的美丽。但是一个新nemateleotris? In this economy? Turns out, Randall and Connell’s new species wasn’t entirely unknown. They recognised the Indian Ocean and Red Sea population of the widespreadN. Decoraas distinct, which they namedN. exquisita。This distinction was based on differences in colouration – yellower anterior body forN. exquisita(Indian Ocean) and pale grey forN. Decora（太平洋）。除了颜色差异外，在几种形态计量学特征（例如眼睛直径和第一背鳍的长度）上还据称存在差异。
These differences were never really all that compelling, considering精美- 类似的例子N. Decora发生在太平洋，印度洋的相反。在最近对该属的评论中，我与海伦·拉尔森（Helen Larson）一起探讨了这一争论。我们没有发现令人信服的证据分开N. exquisitafromN. Decora，因此将前者归还后者。同义词N. exquisita进入N. Decora提供了动力，以更彻底地研究该属N. Helfrichi。
Likenemateleotrisdecora，，，，N. Helfrichienjoys a rather expansive distribution across the Pacific Ocean. Its distribution loosely traces the boundaries of the Pacific Plate, reaching the Great Barrier Reef of northeastern Australia. The species was described from specimens collected all across the Pacific, with the type locality being Tahiti, in the French Polynesian Islands. Curiously, the species exhibits quite a distinct difference in colour pattern and maximum size across this range, with those in the French Polynesian Islands growing larger and having a very distinct black mark on its upper jaw. Those in the western and central Pacific Ocean are smaller and lack the black maxilla. They also differ in having a much yellower head and snout.
Curiously, these differences did not go unnoticed even in the original description ofN. Helfrichi。据推测，兰德尔（Randall）和艾伦（Allen）将它们归因于种间变化。好吧，海伦和我看着的每个标本N. Helfrichi我们可以在博物馆收藏。我ronically, for a species so common in the aquarium trade and so widely recognisable, there are more specimens living in your home aquariums as pet fish than there are in the world’s museums! Unlike the nascent qualities separating “N. exquisita” fromN. Decora，，，，the differences exhibited by the twoN. Helfrichi人口令人信服和强大。两者都不与分布重叠，黑色下巴N. Helfrichisensu stricto restricted to French Polynesia and the Cook Islands, and the yellow-headed variety everywhere else.
And so meetnemateleotris lavandula，，，，the newest species of dartfish, and one that you’re probably already familiar with. You know as an inside joke I almost went withNemateleotris Splendidaas a name but I decided against it. The species is unique in having pastel fins and a light lavender body, which it shares withN. Helfrichi。物种名称lavandulais also the genus of flowering plants bearing the same name.
我n2015我wrote about these dartfishes, bringing attention to theN. Helfrichi难题和这个两个人的故事。有趣的是，8年后，我不仅可以修改分类法作为我作为鱼类学家的新职业道路的一部分，而且还在此处再次将其写在Reefbuilders上。有趣的是世界如何运作。我会告诉你什么。我怀疑还有更多nemateleotris在那里发现。我很高兴与一些伟大的鱼类学家分享这部分宏伟，装饰精美的（看看我在那里做什么？）属。而且，如果您在本文中找到信息也凝结了，您想完整阅读本文，则该论文是开放的访问权限和可用的here。
