Rare and Beautiful - The Ruby Seadragon

The discovery, or identification, of a new species is the ‘holy grail’ of everyone involved in the biological sciences. Back in 2007 researchers from the WA Museum and Scripps Institution of Oceanography in the United States, announced the discovery of a new species of seadragon. However, this discovery did not come about through the finding of one particular specimen. It came about through the comparison of a seadragon caught in 2007 in the Recherche Archipelago, off the coast of Esperance, with a specimen found washed up on Cottesloe Beach as long ago as 1919

Known as the Ruby Seadragon for its unusual bright red colouring, Phyllopteryx dewysea is only the third species of seadragon ever recorded in the world. The other two are the Leafy Seadragon and the Common Seadragon. The species was identified and described by the WA Museum’s Dr Nerida Wilson, and her colleagues, using DNA from the two specimens and linking it to other specimens with similar morphology.  The Cottesloe specimen has resided in the WA Museum’s collection for over 100 years and was critical in providing the information necessary to prove the discovery of a new species. So, if you are involved in science, never throw anything away because you never know when you may need it.

Seadragon X-ray. 
Credit: Stiller et al 2015, Royal Society Open Science