Ruby seadragons are majestic and fascinating, but, up until 2015, were unknown to the scientific community. Now a new study published in the journal Marine Biodiversity Records reveals that a member of this elusive species has been recorded alive in its natural habitat for the first time.
The video was recorded in April 2016 by researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Western Australian Museum. Unlike the two other known seadragon species, the leafy seadragon and the common seadragon, 10-inch long rubies (Phyllopteryx dewysea) most likely hang out at depths that exceed what humans can handle. So instead of sending down scuba divers, the team used a remotely operated vehicle to capture the footage 164 feet deep in the waters off western Australia’s Recherche Archipelago.
via Mental Floss
Image: Glenn Moore & Sue Morrison/Western Australian Museum via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY 3.0
