New Species Seen: 2023

[Prochilodus246]

@VDM
Nice variety of species and given some of the species listed, I presume you visited Walsrode this year?

@DaLilFishie
A cracking list of species, and good to see the fish getting some attention. Fantastic to see so many species observed in the wild as well!

 

[amur leopard]

Had a great year, visited a bunch of new collections. Additions amounted to:

129 new mammal taxa (mostly from Ueno and TP Berlin)
409 new bird taxa (mostly from Walsrode and Loro Parque)
71 new reptile taxa
78 new amphibian taxa (mostly Japan Amphibian lab)
564 new fish taxa (wasn't a terribly complete fish tally to start with but mostly from Osaka, Miyajima, Berlin, Dusseldorf etc.)

So all in all 1251 new taxa . Would be lucky to get a quarter of that next year.

 

[Sicarius]

Had a great year, visited a bunch of new collections. Additions amounted to:

129 new mammal taxa (mostly from Ueno and TP Berlin)
409 new bird taxa (mostly from Walsrode and Loro Parque)
71 new reptile taxa
78 new amphibian taxa (mostly Japan Amphibian lab)
564 new fish taxa (wasn't a terribly complete fish tally to start with but mostly from Osaka, Miyajima, Berlin, Dusseldorf etc.)

So all in all 1251 new taxa . Would be lucky to get a quarter of that next year.

This is impressive, how many species have you photographed in total now?

 

[Prochilodus246]

Had a great year, visited a bunch of new collections. Additions amounted to:

129 new mammal taxa (mostly from Ueno and TP Berlin)
409 new bird taxa (mostly from Walsrode and Loro Parque
71 new reptile taxa
78 new amphibian taxa (mostly Japan Amphibian lab)
564 new fish taxa (wasn't a terribly complete fish tally to start with but mostly from Osaka, Miyajima, Berlin, Dusseldorf etc.)

So all in all 1251 new taxa . Would be lucky to get a quarter of that next year.

Wow @amur leopard what an impressive total! Your trips this year certainly have paid dividends. I bet processing those photos was a task. I don't suppose you have a document that's viewable with the exact taxa seen this year?

 

[amur leopard]

This is impressive, how many species have you photographed in total now?

I haven't counted how many exactly I have photos of but it should be well over 70% of the mammals, birds and herps. Fish is much patchier, especially the additions in Osaka.

Wow @amur leopard what an impressive total! Your trips this year certainly have paid dividends. I bet processing those photos was a task. I don't suppose you have a document that's viewable with the exact taxa seen this year?

Hardest part was narrowing down all my photos to those for posting on here, as some of the new species were really quite special for me. I haven't got a list of species seen this year but highlights would be:

Mammals:
Bear cuscus, Ailurops ursinus (now my favourite marsupial)
Asian house shrew, Suncus murinus (my first shrew)
Coquerel's sifaka, Propithecus coquereli (my favourite primate now)
White collared brown lemur, Eulemur cinereiceps (had lovely views of them at Linton)
Either of the Japanese flying squirrel species.
Yangtze finless porpoise, Neophocaena asiaeorientalis (very friendly and intelligent species, almost a bit sad to see them in quite a restrictive tank)
Coyote, Canis latrans (not terribly rare for those from NA but a lovely sight for me, especially as active as they were)
Southern gerenuk, Litocranius walleri (such an elegant species and one which I saw very well at both Berlins)
African manatee, Trichechus senegalensis (in disappointing surroundings, but special to see nonetheless)
African forest elephants, Loxodonta cyclotis (again not my favourite zoo but the bull in particular is a very impressive specimen).
And of course tarsier at Ueno was great as well.

Birds:
So many that I'll just have to list them out - Great slaty woodpecker, Northern cassowary, Great tinamou, Giant coua, any of the Walsrode hummingbirds or BOPs, Harpy eagle, Chinstrap and Adelie penguins, Japanese night heron, Black-faced spoonbill, Hill pigeon (both of the latter from afar), Pink eared duck, Lidth's jay, Lear's macaw, Salvadori's and Edwards's fig parrots, Spot bellied owl, Buffy fish owl, Capuchinbird and of course the umbrellabird. Those are probably the ones that will stay with me the longest.

Herps:
The surprisingly tiny Speckled padloper, a series of very active monitor lizards plus very flighty butterfly lizards in Koeln, New Guinea crocodile and handling some very friendly pythons at Japan Amphibian Lab. In amphibs, the vast number of Hynobius and Onychodactylus sp. at the aforementioned institution, plus an absolutely gigantic Japanese giant salamander.

Fish:
Not the taxa I know the most about so this will be mostly based on what struck me as cool; right off the bat, Whale sharks. So imposing yet gentle. Lovely patterning, as on the Reticulate whipray. Will also of course remember Osaka for a number of very cool NZ endemics, Scalloped hammerheads and the immense Pelagic stingray in the main tank. The multiple Korean endemics at COEX were lovely respite from the rest of the aquarium . As has been said many times Koeln and Berlin's aquariums were brilliant, and my personal favourite was a Celebes halfbeak in Koeln. Duesseldorf, putting aside the hectic nature of the visit, is memorable for me for its jawfish, Anableps and perhaps most of all a tiny Tevegae pygmygoby.

Exhibitry-wise, the highlights were Seoul, with some genuinely top class enclosures and innovation from which some European zoos could undoubtedly learn, the main tank in Osaka, most of TP Berlin but Himalaya in particular, the Ape exhibits and elephant house, both in Koeln and finally the outstanding Underground Zoo in Osnabrueck.

 

[VDM]

@VDM
Nice variety of species and given some of the species listed, I presume you visited Walsrode this year?

Yes indeed. For the third time already, but the first time since I started keeping track of the different species.

 

[Sicarius]

I haven't counted how many exactly I have photos of but it should be well over 70% of the mammals, birds and herps. Fish is much patchier, especially the additions in Osaka.

I actually meant how many taxa you have seen/photographed in your years of travelling.

 

[amur leopard]

I actually meant how many taxa you have seen/photographed in your years of travelling.

501 mammals, 1109 birds, 333 reptiles, 147 amphibs, 1232 fish, 3322 total taxa. Not sure about species proper but shouldn't be too far off that...

Hoping to see more reptiles next year with any luck.

 

[Prochilodus246]

501 mammals, 1109 birds, 333 reptiles, 147 amphibs, 1232 fish, 3322 total taxa. Not sure about species proper but shouldn't be too far off that...

Hoping to see more reptiles next year with any luck.

Some very impressive totals @amur leopard It may be worth popping along to one of the various reptile shows in the country or popping across the channel to the Netherlands to visit Houten to increase your reptile totals. My reptile totals are also pretty meagre even with a visit to an IHS trade show this year I have only photographed 153 taxa.

 

[Enzo]

Hello. I'm back from Itatiba, a zoo with not one, but two one-zoo wonders! This means I've got some updates to do.

Species I forgot to add to the list

Reptiles:
- Giant ameiva (Ameiva ameiva): wild;

Birds:
- Little blue heron (Egretta caerulea): wild;

- Reddish hermit (Phaethornis ruber): wild;
- Violet-capped woodnymph (Thalurania glaucopis): wild;

- Red-rumped cacique (Cacicus haemorrhous): wild;

New species seen

Mammals:

- Eastern silky anteater (Cyclopes didactylus): Itatiba;

- Silvery marmoset (Mico argentatus): Itatiba;

Birds:

- Squirrel cuckoo (Piaya cayana): wild;

- Radjah shelduck (Radjah radjah): Itatiba;
- Brazilian merganser (Mergus octosetaceus): Itatiba;

- Wood stork (Mycteria americana): wild;

- Short-eared owl (Asio flammeus): Itatiba;

My number of new species seen was surprisingly higher than expected! I can assure you I've had lots of luck on my last trip with wild birds.

 

[Prochilodus246]

Wild species are often great ways of seeing more species, particularly if you live in a part of the world with incredible biodiversity such as S.America!

 

[DaLilFishie]

Reptiles and Amphibians - 57 sp. (5 ssp.)

Just realised I forgot some:
Motorbike Frog - WA Museum Boola Bardip

subspecies:
Tiger Snake (occidentalis) - Perth Zoo

Fishes - 191 sp.

Lattice Butterflyfish - Wild
Barcheek Trevally - Wild
Blue-spotted Rockcod - Wild
Oneline Wrasse - Wild
Redstreaked Blenny - Wild
Doublebar Goatfish - Wild
Threestripe Fusilier - Wild
Dick's Damsel - Wild
Blue-and-yellow Fusilier - Wild
Scarface Damsel - Wild
Striped Sweetlips - Wild
Spotted Rabbitfish - Wild
Southern Grubfish - Wild
Barred Trevally - Wild
Marbled Parrotfish - Wild
Highfin Parrotfish - Private trade
Bluepatch Parrotfish - Private trade
Nebulous Wrasse - Wild

Birds - 72 sp. (40 ssp.)

Black-faced Woodswallow - Wild
Pied Monarch - Wild
Australian Shoveler - Wild
Spotted Scrubwren

Subspecies
Tawny Frogmouth (brachypterus) - Wild

INVERTEBRATES - 161 sp. (21 ssp.) - all wild unless stated otherwise
Golden Emperor Cicada
Orange Threadtail Damselfly
Colepia compernis
Black Soldier Fly
Desmoptera truncatipennis
Atherton Tableland Bicoloured Snail
Papuan Hermit Spider
Two-toned Bunyip Cicada
Small-eyed Box-Owlet Moth
Northern Cherrynose Cicada
Dilochrosis brownii
Aspidomorpha deusta
Flower Ant
Eastern Red Lacewing Butterfly
Mimegralla australica
Bright Oak-blue Butterfly
Tropical Beehive Snail
Water Prince Dragonfly
L-spot Basker Dragonfly
Rentz's Treerunner Mantis
Yellow-spotted Ladybird
Shining Oak-blue Butterfly
Ninja-star Ceiling Spider
Jungle Grinder Cicada
Wülfing's Stick Insect
Green Triangle Butterfly
Crafty Fishing Spider
Darkmouth Dragonfly
Spotted Ground Swift Spider
Opalescent Pendant-Snail
Wandering Glider Dragonfly
Ligyra satyrus
Hamadryad Butterfly
Asian Tramp Snail
Phimenes arcuatus
Australian Hornet
Fourmanoir's Mangrove Crab
Encymon immaculatus
Tolpiodes oligolasia
White-banded Cerulean Butterfly
Capaneus Swallowtail Butterfly
Small Green Banded Blue Butterfly
Purple Crow Butterfly
Tropical Sharptail Grasshopper
Physopelta gutta
Cycad Blue Butterfly
Narrow-brand Darter Butterfly
Bright Orange Darter Butterfly
Scalloped Grass-Yellow Butterfly
Hercules Moth
Homoneura discoglauca
Tioman Crab
Scarlet Three-spined Mangrove Crab
Long-tailed Pea-Blue Butterfly
Lean Lynx Spider
Black Tigertail Dragonfly
Wallace's Euryattus
Neon Cloak-and-dagger Bee
Sphex carbonicolor
Horned Ghost Crab
Perplexing Fiddler Crab
Fivespot Threadtail Damselfly
Shaking Fiddler Crab
Large Grass-Yellow Butterfly
Chequered Swallowtail Butterfly
Green-spotted Triangle Butterfly
White-banded Plane Butterfly
Blue Tiger Butterfly
Green Jumping Spider
Meadow Argus Butterfly
Variable Ladybird
Red-shouldered Leaf Beetle
Rhytidoponera purpurea
Paddy Bug
Tenodera blanchardi
Pternistria bispina
Large Purple Line-Blue Butterfly
Long-legged Hermit Crab
Green-banded Line-Blue Butterfly
Grenadier Dragonfly
Large Green-banded Blue Butterfly
Yellow-banded Jezebel Butterfly
Disrupted Beautiful-masked Bee
Leptomyrmex unicolor
Winged Pocket Comb Jelly
Red-breasted Longtail Damselfly
Aethaloessa calidalis
Fruit-spotting Bug
Red-tipped Shadefly
Speckled Line-Blue Butterfly
North Queensland Jumping Spider
Diogenes senex
Adrapsa ablualis
Mottled Lightfoot Crab
Cedar Bushbrown Butterfly
Eutyrhinus meditabundus
Dusky Knight Butterfly
Macleay's Grass-Yellow Butterfly
Two-spotted Line-Blue Butterfly
Lesser Wanderer Butterfly
Ant-eater Jumping Spider
Copper Jewel Butterfly
Tailed Emperor Butterfly
Australian Lerp Psyllid
Day Octopus
Nerita striata
Nerita plicata
Tropical Periwinkle
Patelloida saccharina
Blotched Nerite
Priestly Spiny Orbweaver
Greenish Meadow Katydid
"Bridge's Midge" (undescribed)
Twister Dragonfly
Distipsidera grutii
Yellow Paper Wasp
Australian Tiger Crane Fly
Trident Pencil-Blue
Allacta australiensis
Northern Lined Hygropoda
Snake Mantis
Paropsisterna semifumata
Basitropis relicta
Northern Sword-grass Brown Butterfly
Red Rock Crab
Red-lipped Ascidian
Blue-throated Ascidian
Italian White Snail
Myrmecia regularis
Australian Spotted Jelly
Serrated Katydid
Sea-green Northern Jumping Spider
Little Blue Periwinkle
Tyde's Sand Wasp
Prionyx globosus
Crowned Stick Insect - Cairns Aquarium
Australian Plague-Locust - Taronga Zoo Sydney
Goliath Stick Insect - Taronga Zoo Sydney
Flinders Ranges Scorpion - Taronga Zoo Sydney
Black House Spider - Taronga Zoo Sydney
Queensland Whistling Tarantula - Taronga Zoo Sydney
Long-spined Sea Urchin - Sydney Aquarium
Western Pacific Purple Sea Urchin - Sydney Aquarium
Violet Sea Apple - Sydney Aquarium
Green Snakelock Anemone - Sydney Aquarium
Magnificent Sea Anemone - Sydney Aquarium
Tubastrea aurea - Sydney Aquarium
Flamboyant Cuttlefish - AQWA
Greater Blue-ringed Octopus - AQWA
Star Octopus - Dolphin Discovery Centre
Gunn's Six-armed Star - Dolphin Discovery Centre
Western Sea Star - Dolphin Discovery Centre
Many-spotted Sea Star - Dolphin Discovery Centre
Pentagonaster duebeni - Dolphin Discovery Centre
Velvet Sea Star - Dolphin Discovery Centre
Western Rock Lobster - Cicerello's Aquarium
Australian Cushion Star - Cicerello's Aquarium
Ambrax Swallowtail Butterfly - Cairns Botanic Gardens Butterfly House
Carter's Freshwater Mussel - WA Museum Boola Bardip
Long-tentacled Plate Coral - Cairns Aquarium

Subspecies
Physopelta gutta (famelica)
Neon Cloak-and-dagger Bee (nitidulus)
Common Brown Butterfly (duboulayi)
Eastern Red Lacewing Butterfly (chrysippe)
Bright Oak-blue Butterfly (amytis)
Green Triangle Butterfly (macfarlanei)
Hamadryad (zoilus)
White-banded Cerulean Butterfly (coelestis)
Capaneus Swallowtail Butterfly (capaneus)
Small Green Banded Blue Butterfly (taygetus)
Purple Crow Butterfly (tulliolus)
Narrow-brand Darter Butterfly (mesoptis)
Bright Orange Darter Butterfly (krefftii)
Large Grass-Yellow Butterfly (phoebus)
Chequered Swallowtail Butterfly (snthelus)
Green-spotted Triangle Butterfly (ligatus)
Blue Tiger Butterfly (hamata)
Large Purple Line-Blue Butterfly (serapis)
Green-banded Line-Blue Butterfly (arinia)
Yellow-banded Jezebel Butterfly (nigidius)
Ambrax Swallowtail Butterfly (epigius) - Cairns Botanic Gardens Butterfly House

Which bring me to a total of 405 new vertebrate species and 63 new subspecies this year, and a total of 566 new species and 84 new subspecies for the year.

 

[DaLilFishie]

An additional species I saw since my previous post:
Red-chested Buttonquail - Wild

And one I forgot:
Australian Leaf Insect - Queensland Museum

 

[Prochilodus246]

Fantastic additions this year @DaLilFishie

I have been looking through the sheer amount of butterflies and may I ask if you have travelled to multiple areas of the country to see them or have they been in the same state?

It's great you can also acquire much of your fish in the wild too and it is also good to see that you got some different parrotfish in the trade as I am always just seeing Scarus quoyi

 

[Sicarius]

It's great you can also acquire much of your fish in the wild too and it is also good to see that you got some different parrotfish in the trade as I am always just seeing Scarus quoyi

I have seen almost 30 species, with only 1-2 wild actually!

 

[Torgos]

Mammals: 59 new species/subspecies
Carnivora- 10 new species (including dhole, ring-tailed vontsira, and wolverine)
Cetartiodactyla- 23 new species (including hog deer, red brocket deer, Kirk's dik-dik, and West Caucasian tur)
Chiroptera- 1 new species (Seba's short-tailed bat)
Dasyuromorphia- 1 new species (Tasmanian devil)
Diprotodontia- 1 new species (southern hairy-nosed wombat)
Perissodactyla- 2 new species (Malayan tapir and Mongolian wild horse)
Primates- 6 new species (including gelada, grey mouse lemurs, and Coquerel's sifakas)
Rodentia- 14 new species (almost all of which were seen at Bronx Zoo)
Tubulidentata- 1 new species (aardvark)
Birds: 139 new species/subspecies
Accipitriformes- 3 new species (including palm nut vulture)
Anseriformes- 19 new species (including harlequin duck and pink-eared duck)
Bucerotiformes- 7 new species (including great hornbill and white-crested hornbill)
Casuariiformes- 1 new species (Southern cassowary)
Charadriiformes- 12 new species (including pied avocet, semipalmated sandpiper, and piping plover)
Ciconiiformes- 3 new species (including lesser adjutant and Storm's stork)
Columbiformes- 6 new species (including many-colored fruit dove and Mariana fruit dove)
Coraciiformes- 4 new species (including Guam kingfisher, white-fronted bee-eater, and white-throated bee-eater)
Cuculiformes- 1 new species (chestnut-breasted malkoha)
Eurypygiformes- 1 new species (kagu!)
Falconiformes- 1 new species (aplomado falcon)
Galliformes- 20 new species (including maleo and Congo peafowl)
Gruiformes- 3 new species (including gray-winged trumpeter)
Musophagiformes- 1 new species (Livingstone's turaco)
Passeriformes- 37 new species (including grosbeak starling, golden white-eye, and long-tailed glossy starling)
Pelicaniformes- 6 new species (including snowy egret and yellow-crowned night heron)
Piciformes- 1 new species (lettered aracari)
Psittaciformes- 9 new species (including red-tailed black cockatoo, lesser vasa parrot, and thick-billed parrot)
Strigiformes- 1 new species (Southern white-faced owl)
Suliformes- 2 new species (anhinga and white-breasted cormorant)
Tinamiformes- 1 new species (elegant-crested tinamou)

Reptiles: 119 new species/subspecies
Crocodilia- 3 new species (saltwater and cuban crocodiles, tomistoma)
Rhynchocephalia- 1 new species (tuatara!)
Squamata- 87 new species (33 of whom are viperids)
Testudines- 28 new species (including Burmese and Indian star tortoises and Home's hingeback tortoise)

Amphibians
It was only this year I started to keep track of amphibians, so I'm not going to detail new species, but I saw a total of 58 amphibian species this year.

One! Delacour's crested fireback pheasant in November. I go to lots of zoos but old goats see fewer new things than young goats. I wish I could remember all the weird stuff I saw in the 70's though.
I do anticipate a new waterfowl species in 2024 though, very exciting......... A mega species I thought I'd never see and I've worked with 150+ waterfowl species and subspecies plus seeing a few additional in the wild.

 

[DaLilFishie]

I have been looking through the sheer amount of butterflies and may I ask if you have travelled to multiple areas of the country to see them or have they been in the same state?

I have travelled a bit within Australia, but I didn't see many butterflies on the trips - the southern states I visited have rather low butterfly diversity. I'd say probably 95% or more of the butterflies were seen in my home state, within only a few hours of where I live in Far North Queensland.

Speaking of parrotfish though - I've still never seen S. quoyi!

 

[Prochilodus246]

One! Delacour's crested fireback pheasant in November. I go to lots of zoos but old goats see fewer new things than young goats. I wish I could remember all the weird stuff I saw in the 70's though.
I do anticipate a new waterfowl species in 2024 though, very exciting......... A mega species I thought I'd never see and I've worked with 150+ waterfowl species and subspecies plus seeing a few additional in the wild.

I'm very intrigued by this species. Is it a particularly rare species in the wild or just in aviculture?

I have seen almost 30 species, with only 1-2 wild actually!

I must just be getting bad luck, one of these days I will see a new parrotfish

 

[Chlidonias]

I'm very intrigued by this species. Is it a particularly rare species in the wild or just in aviculture?

I'm guessing it's the Brazilian Mergansers at Prague.

 

[Prochilodus246]

I'm guessing it's the Brazilian Mergansers at Prague.

Yeah good shout!