UF researchers name new cusk-eels useful for understanding
environment GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A study by University of Florida
and University of Kansas researchers describing eight new cusk-
eel species provides data for better understanding how disasters
like the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill impact biodiversity and
the environment. The 60-year study appearing Tuesday in the
Florida Museum of Natural History Bulletin provides a
comprehensive taxonomic revision of one of the least-studied
groups of cusk-eels, bony fishes distantly related to cod.
Although abundant and widespread in the Americas, the fishes in
the genus Lepophidium have previously been poorly known to
biologists. “With the recent Gulf of Mexico disaster, one of the
first things that people started asking was what impact was had
and on what animals, and a lot of biologists said, ‘We don’t
know all the animals that are in the Gulf of Mexico because the
area hasn’t been studied enough,’ ” said study co-author Rob
Robins, ichthyology collection manage