Asian Diver (English)

Researcher­s Discover New Pygmy Seahorse in Japan

-

Researcher­s working in Japan have discovered a new species of pygmy seahorse that they have named

Hippocampu­s japapigu, or Japan pig, because locals believe the tiny seahorse looks like a “tiny baby pig”.

Colourful and smaller than a fingernail, the new species has an elevated ridge on its upper back made of triangular bones. At present, the researcher­s are unaware of the exact purpose of these triangular bones. Found in the waters off the coast of southeast Japan around the island of Kashiwa, Kii Peninsula, Izu Peninsula and the Ogasawara Islands, the new pygmy seahorse hides itself well by camouflagi­ng itself against the corals and rocks it lives on. Graham Short, an ichthyolog­ist at the California Academy of Sciences, is the lead author of the study, “Hippocampu­s japapigu, a new species of pygmy seahorse from Japan, with a redescript­ion of

H. pontohi (Teleostei, Syngnathid­ae)” by Short, G., Smith, R., Motomura, H., Harasti, D., & Hamilton, H., published in ZooKeys 779: 27–49, 2018.

 ?? IMAGE: Hiroyuki Motomura (from Short et al. 2018) ??
IMAGE: Hiroyuki Motomura (from Short et al. 2018)

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Cambodia