Since the 19th century, marine biologists had thought that only two types of these enchanting fish existed — the leafy and weedy — until they discovered a third among museum specimens in 2015: the ruby sea dragon. Now, for the first time, scientists have observed the ruby sea dragon swimming in the wild. Unlike its kin, the ruby sea dragon lacks the appendages that help camouflage leafy and weedy sea dragons among the ocean floor’s kelp and sea grass. On Thursday, he and his colleagues published footage they recorded of the ruby sea dragon in the journal Marine Biodiversity Records. When they finally recorded the wild ruby sea dragon, they confirmed that the species did not have the camouflage-like appendages.

Source: New York Times January 13, 2017 01:03 UTC