Historically, the anthiadid genus Plectranthias was the most diverse group within the family Anthiadidae, containing approximately 70 species. However, since its last revision over 40 years ago, it has long been suspected to be polyphyletic. The primary challenge to resolving its taxonomy has been sampling difficulty, as most species inhabit deep-sea environments across the Indo-West Pacific.

Through a collaboration between my supervisor, Dr. Wei-Jen Chen (NTU), and the French Tropical Deep-Sea Benthos Program, we collected rare anthiadid specimens for a comprehensive systematic study. We reconstructed the first robust molecular phylogeny for Anthiadidae, confirmed the polyphyly of Plectranthias, revealing seven clades that recognized as distinct genera. Following morphological analysis and literature review, we proposed a new classification framework: re-circumscribed Plectranthias, resurrected four former synonyms, and erected two new genera.

As the lead author of this project, I am proud to have contributed to resolving a significant portion of the problematic taxonomy within Anthiadidae, providing a stable foundation for all future research in the field.

四十多年來，棘花鱸一直被視為多系群。儘管學者們早已察覺其分類存在問題，但由於該類群多棲息於印太海域的深海環境，採樣極其困難，導致其分類重整長期處於停滯狀態。

在台大讀碩士的時候，我有機會利用法國 Tropical Deep-Sea Benthos Program 的樣本進行研究，並鑑定出多種花鱸。利用這批樣本，我重建了首個具高支持度的花鱸科分子親緣關係樹，證實棘花鱸屬為包含七個演化支的多系群。結合詳盡的文獻回顧與形態學分析，我針對這七個支系進行了系統性的修訂：包括重新界定棘花鱸屬、恢復四個次異名為有效屬，並建立了兩個新屬。

Paper: A 40-year taxonomic enigma: multigene phylogeny resolves the polyphyly of Plectranthias (Perciformes: Anthiadidae) and supports a revised taxonomy Link

Last year, Dr. Quang Van Vo discovered an unknown anthiadid from Nha Trang, Vietnam. Together with Dr. Tony Gill, we later initiated a small project to describe this new Vietnamese species. Following the revised taxonomy of anthiadids, we placed this species in the recently resurrected genus Sayonara. It is distinctive in having yellow and reddish-orange stripes on the body, and we therefore named it flavolineata, meaning “yellow-striped.”

去年由越南芽莊海洋研究院的老師  Dr. Quang Van Vo 在漁港的底拖混獲中採集到一種未被描述的花鱸。接著，我、Dr. Vo 加上 Tony，便合作撰寫描述文章。文章在發表之前趕上花鱸的分類修訂，所以我們把新種放置在 Sayonara 底花鮨屬。我們依其體色，把新種命名為黃紋底花鮨。

Paper: Sayonara flavolineata (Perciformes: Anthiadidae), a new deep-water anthiadid perchlet from Vietnam. Link