NEW SEA DRAGON & SEAHORSE BEAUTIES HAPPENING NOW
A new species of sea dragon has recently been discovered, and it’s spectacular. This, and a look at its fascinating relatives, seahorses, are the Beautiful Fish we are focusing on today.
SEA DRAGONS
Sea dragons are fish that are related to sea horses, although they have a longer snout and a longer tail that doesn't curl. Until recently, there were only two known species.
The new species, Phyllopteryx dewysea, was discovered by researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography UC San Diego by accident, off the remote Recherche Archipelago near Australia's southern coast, while scientists were investigating ways to protect their sea dragon cousins. Its unusual vibrant ruby red color is lined with pink vertical bars on each of its 18 trunk segments.
P. dewsea live in much deeper waters than other sea dragons do and their red color is hard to see there -- perhaps that’s why until now, they have eluded detection.
The Weedy Seadragon (Phycodurus eques) has distinctive appendages, with bulbous ends that resemble the air bubbles found in many seaweeds.
Adult weedy seadragons are a reddish colour, with yellow and purple markings.
The Leafy Seadragon (Phycodurus eques) is quite flamboyant, with “leafy” appendages the up its camouflage game, enabling it to blend in with seaweed fronds. These fish range from a yellow-brown to green color, depending on how old they are, what they eat, and their surroundings.
SEAHORSES
The seahorse (Hippocampus) is a small marine fish that neither looks, nor acts, like most other fish. They aren’t good swimmers. They swim upright. Their heads and necks resemble horses. Their prehensile tails anchor them to stationary objects while they suck food in through their snouts as it floats by.
Their eyes can move independently of each other (like those of a chameleon). They have no scales, but rather thin skin stretched over a series of bony plates.
Another un-fishlike set of behaviors: Seahorses tend to be monogamous. And males carry the pregnancies.
Seahorses live in seagrass beds, coral reefs, mangroves, and other sheltered areas in shallow tropical and temperate waters throughout the world.
Seahorses face extinction. In addition to the threats that pollution, loss of habitat and overfishing, pose to many other fish, seahorse populations are being further decimated by widespread use in traditional Chinese medicines.
Up to 20 million seahorses are harvested each year and sold as treatments for everything from impotency to wheezing. They sell for more than their weight in gold.
There are 54 known species of seahorse. We are sharing some of the most extraordinary of them with you today.
PYGMY SEAHORSE
The pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus bargibanti) measures only 2 centimeters tall, but its one of the greatest masters of disguise in the animal kingdom.
Covered in tiny bulbous pink and red tubercles that match the color and texture of its host species, gorgonian coral (Muricella plectana and Muricella paraplectana), the pygmy seahorse blends in exceedingly well. In fact, it wasn’t even discovered until a sample of gorgonian coral was being examined in lab.
BIG BELLY SEAHORSE
The big-belly seahorse (Hippocampus abdominalis) is aptly named. This species is one of the largest, measuring up to 35 cm long.
Males use their big bellies in their courting and mating rituals. And, like other sea-horses, males are the ones who get pregnant bellies.
Big-belly seahorses are well camouflaged as they live among algae, seagrasses, and rocky reefs in shallow water in southeast Australia and New Zealand.
LINED SEAHORSE
The lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus) comes in a variety of colors depending on its location -- they can be grey and black, or brilliant shades of red, green and orange.
The species is monogamous and performs a ritual dance with its mate each morning to renew their bond. If either member of the pair dies, its is very unlikely for the survivor to search for a replacement.
It can be found in the Atlantic Ocean from Canada all the way down to Venezuela.
CHESAPEAKE BAY LINED SEAHORSE
Interestingly, Lined seahorses can also be found in the Chesapeake bay, where they often appear as the ones above. In the summer these seahorses use their prehensile tales to latch on to eelgrass in the bay. In the winter they move out to join the rest of their species in the deeper atlantic, where the water stays warmer.
CAPE SEAHORSE
The Cape Seahorse (Hippocampus capensis) lives in brackish waters in the estuaries of the Keurbooms River, the Knysna Lagoon, and the Swartvlei system along the south coast of South Africa.
Their population varies widely due to periods of strong river flow in the Knysna Lagoon, as like other seahorses this species are not strong swimmers. They are small and dark, and covered in bony rings.
DENISE’S PYGMY SEAHORSE
Denise’s Pygmy Seahorse (Hippocampus denise) is another incredibly small species, growing only to 1.5 cm. Like the other pygmy’s, Denise’s pygmy lives in coral reefs off of southern Japan, Australia, and the South Pacific.
DHIHO’S SEAHORSE
Dhiho’s seahorse (Hippocampus sindonis) rarely reaches over 4 inches in length. They are native to the waters of Japan and Korea and are often brightly colored with darker more subdued patches. It is one of the species on the endangered list, as it is one often used in traditional Chinese medicines.
Read more about Beautiful Fish, as they relate to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including 10 Gorgeous Books on Beautiful Fish Now.
Enter your own images and ideas about Beautiful Fish in this week’s creative Photo Competition. Open for entries now until 11:59 p.m. PT on 03.07.15. If you are reading this after that date, check out the current BN Creative Competition, and enter!
IMAGE CREDITS:
- Photo: by Tim Hamilton. A Really Strange Looking Seahorse.
- Image: Courtesy of Scripps Institution of Oceanography UC San Diego. Ruby Seadragon.
- Image: Courtesy of Marine Park NSW. Ruby Seadragon.
- Photo: by Ta-graphy. Weedy Seadragon.
- Photo: by Nathan Rupert. Leafy Seadragon.
- Photo: by Coby Bidwell. Black Seahorse.
- Photo: by Nathan Rupert. Seahorse Couple.
- Photo: by felicito rustique, jr. Seahorses.
- Photo: by Yusmar Yahaya. Pygmy Seahorse.
- Photo: by Dr. Roger Welch. Pygmy Seahorses.
- Photo: by OzinOH. Big- Bellied Seahorse.
- Photo: by Kevin Bryant. Lined Seahorse.
- Photo: by Brian Gratwicke. Lined Seahorse.
- Photo: by flowcomm. Knysna Cape Seahorses.
- Photo: by Klaus Stiefel. Denise Pygmy Seahorse.
- Photo: by Nemo’s Great Uncle. Dhiho’s Seahorse.
- Photo: by Klaus Stiefel. Pygmy Seahorse.
