In March of 2022 (within the last few weeks), the rose-veiled fairy wrasse was discovered in the Maldives, deep down around two hundred and a thousand meters down from the ocean’s surface.

They are a beautiful species of wrasse, and were commonly mixed up with an older red velvet fairy wrasse, but have recently made their debut as their own species ! The rose-veiled fairy wrasse was named after the island’s flower, and the main colors featured on their scales.

It is the first species to have it´s name derived from the Dhivehi language and they are being safely studied. The Maldivian people will continue to preserve the species, since they are becoming more popular.

Based on other information regrading deep sea sea-creatures, the rose-veiled fairy wrasse could be iridescent (reflective, non-opaque, or phorporescense), there’s also a chance that some have lived lower than the twilight zone (possibly in underwater caves, tunnels, or lakes like the mariana trench), which could make the species blind !

While this might seem strange to evolve into blindness, what do you need to see in the pitch black ? I’m excited to learn more about this species and hope that there’s more like it even deeper…