Thursday, May 14, 2009

Psychedelic New Species Discovered


There have been quite a few species discovered recently! Some of them include a new species of sting ray, an iron breathing microbial species, butterfly species and ten new amphibian species discovered in Colombia! The WILD Foundation’s favorite new species is a fish: Histiophryne Psychedelica. Officially discovered off the coast of Indonesia about a year and a half ago, this is a new species of frogfish. Their faces resemble what you could see when looking into a kaleidoscope: white stripes and bright colors (very “psychedelic”!).Their coloring allows them to blend in with surrounding coral in order to hide from potential predators. In addition to the WILD colors, their faces are almost human-like with eyes that face forward. Their bodies are fleshy and have folds, allowing them to “swim” (more like bounce around) into coral and hide without injuring themselves. Overall, this fish is an extremely interesting find! Very fun to watch, too: check out the video!

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