Known only from the Sepik River system in Papua New Guinea, the spinach pipefish (Microphis spinachioides) was last recorded by scientists in the 1980s. Now, this slender fish has been ‘re-found’, thanks to collaborations with local communities.
The Sepik is a vast river system running for more than 1,100km, and includes tributaries, lakes, forests and wetlands. Communities in the region live closely with the river.
“Travel is almost entirely by motorised boat or canoe, often taking many hours between villages,” says researcher Jerrica Agebo from the New Guinea Binatang Research Centre.
“Every community welcomed us warmly and shared remarkable knowledge about their river. It is a place where scientific research depends heavily on collaboration with local people.”
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Agebo and fellow researcher Roger Maikei spent two weeks speaking with local communities, surveying the river and examining fish catches at markets. They found that people recognised the spinach pipefish from photographs, had their own names for it – such as Karuweng, Inap, Karuwena and Sako – and were able to describe the vegetated river margin habitats where it is found.
One local fisherwoman, Helen Asu, was key to finding pipefish specimens for the scientific team to study. Asu, who uses an umben, a traditional handheld net, to catch freshwater prawns in the Sepik, recognised the pipefish from the images and said she would look out for it next time she was fishing. The following morning, she went out and caught two pipefishes that looked like the ones from the images.
The researchers shared images of the fish with Australian ichthyologist Gerald Allen, who had confirmed the spinach pipefish’s existence in the Sepik in the 1980s, and he identified it as the ‘lost’ pipefish.
Agebigo said of Asu’s contribution: “Without her knowledge, initiative, and willingness to assist, the rediscovery may not have been possible”.
The Search for Lost Fishes initiative was launched in 2021 by SHOAL and Re:wild. A ‘lost’ species is described as one that hasn’t been formally recorded by scientists for at least a decade, but hasn’t yet been declared Extinct - and focuses on freshwater fish. The list comprises more than 300 fish species.
Top image: Singarin waterway, Sepik River. Credit: New Guinea Binatang Research Centre
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