We ’re starting off the workweek on an incredibly positive promissory note with the annunciation of a new coinage of pygmy seahorse discovered off the coast of Japan – and the best matter ? They ’re not rare , endangered , or threatened in any style .
MeetHippocampus japapigu , or the “ Japan squealer ” , which may not vocalise self-respecting , but was what the local divers who first spot them in Dixieland - eastern Japan nicknamed them .
“ [ T]o the locals , it resemble a tiny baby hog , ” Graham Short , top generator of the study officially describing them inZooKeys , toldNational Geographic .
Since they are so tiny – an grownup only grows to the size of a caryopsis of rice – and their colouring material are not just beautiful , but perfect for camouflage the petite creature as bits of floating seaweed or alga , it ’s not hard to see why they went officially undetected for so long .
Though they had been know to divers diving in the shoal off Hachijo - Jima Island , of the Izu Islands in Japan , Short and his co-worker realized the small ocean equid were really unique to the six other known coinage of pigmy walrus – not that you ’d be able to tell with the naked eye , though .
They had been thought to be a variant of the Pontohi ’s walrus , but once they were able-bodied to consider them in detail the researchers realized the keen color and detailed radiation pattern of the creatures meant they were something entirely Modern .
“ It ’s like a seahorse wearing a paisley figure , ” co - author Kevin Conway of Texas A&M University , toldNatGeo .
When they call for CT scans of them they realise there were other differences . They have an left ridgepole of os on the upper back , which may have evolved due to intimate selection , but it ’s not really well-defined . Like other Pigmy seahorses , they have a fender - corresponding structure on their back , again to what purpose it ’s strange , however unlike the others , rather of two twosome , H.japapiguhas just one .
They also live in quite an unusual home ground for seahorses . The shallow amnionic fluid of Hachijo - Jima Island fluctuate in temperature depending on the time of year , something most seahorses do n’t care . The fact they were find at only 10 - 11 beat ( 33 - 36 foundation ) , when most pygmy seahorse prefer much deep water , is also strange .
This is where being so little comes in handy . Some species of sea horse can produce up to 35 centimeters ( 14 inches ) , but the Japan bull measure around 16 millimetre – humble enough “ to fit two or three on the nail of my little finger , ” according to Short .
However , being tiny mean pygmy seahorses can parry detection by both predator and humans , specially those who seek to use them in “ traditional ” Formosan medicine or for the extremely lucrative marine museum craft .
“ But this will never be an egress for pygmy sea horse , because they are just too hard to find , ” Short said .
