New Zealand scientists have uncovered another new species of fish never before found in New Zealand waters.
It was found by one of a 13-strong team of scientists assessing fish, animal and plant species at the remote Kermadec Islands.
The engineer of the Kermadecs Biodiscovery expedition, which left on May
9, spotted a plastic bottle in the water and hauled it in, to find a trigger fish underneath.
"It's a juvenile trigger fish - exactly what sort, we don't know yet," said an expedition spokesman.
"Trigger fish are the tropical equivalent of leather-jackets, and this is almost certainly a new species record for New Zealand."
The team, which returns from its 21-day expedition next week, has already discovered a pipe fish and a small left-eye flounder likely to be new to science, and a shark, a zebra lionfish, a tropical banded eel, a blackspot sergeant and a tropical goatfish which are all thought to be new to New Zealand records.
Final confirmation of all the finds won't be made until after the expedition returns.