The Lady Elliot shrimp goby is the first new fish species discovered on the reef since 2019, much to the delight of the researchers who stumbled across it by chance.

n the warm shallows of a small coral cay on Queensland's Coral Coast, a spotted fish peeks out of its cave, eyes darting sideways looking for predators.

The Lady Elliot shrimp goby is small but striking.

The Lady Elliot shrimp goby was discovered a year ago as part of a collaborative Leaf to Reef research project, the findings of which were published today in the Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation.

Dr Dudgeon says the jury is still out on whether the research team has discovered other new species.

"We think they may be a new species, but we now need to examine their morphology and genetics to determine if that's the case or not," she said. "We've got over 5,000 species in Australian territorial waters altogether, but the Great Barrier Reef is certainly a stand-out area for diversity.