In the past few days science journal reporter has reported, what scientist think is a new species. This psychedelic fish has been seen "bouncing across the ocean floor like a rubber ball." This frogish fish had actually been spotted or discovered in shallow waters of Ambon island in western Indonesia a year ago by a group of scuba diving instructors working on a tour operator. Histiophryne, a professor from the University of Washington and also a member of the antennariid genus, is the one who named this new species as "psychedelica." From looking at this frogish fish it has fins on the side of its body that evolved into legs. "But it has several behavioral traits not previously known to the others," Pietsch wrote. Heres what soem others have to say.
"Each time the fish strike the seabed, for instance, they push off with their fins and expel water from tiny gill openings to jet themselves forward. That, and an off-centered tail, causes them to bounce around in a bizarre, chaotic manner."
"Each time the fish strike the seabed, for instance, they push off with their fins and expel water from tiny gill openings to jet themselves forward. That, and an off-centered tail, causes them to bounce around in a bizarre, chaotic manner."
"I think people thought frogfishes were relatively well known and to get a new one like this is really quiet spectacular. ... It's a stunning animal," he said, adding that the fish's stripes were probably intended to mimic coral.
"It also speaks to the tremendous diversity in this region and to fact that there are still a lot of unknowns here — in Indonesia and in the Coral Triangle in general."
The fish, which has a gelatinous fist-sized body covered with thick folds of skin that protect it from sharp-edged corals, also has a flat face with eyes directed forward, like humans, and a huge, yawning mouth.
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