|
For the first time, scientists have viewed the deepest regions of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and discovered, among other things, an extremely rare fish that appears to “walk” along the seafloor.
Researchers say it propels itself along the seabed using its pectoral fins, and its motion in doing so is described as “an awkward, lumbering gait”. |
|
|
Well-camouflaged ambush predator
Scientists aboard the RV Falkor, an oceanographic research vessel from the Schmidt Ocean Institute, say it is the first recorded observation in Australian waters of the fish, whose scientific name is Rhinopias agroliba. It is a colourful and well-camouflaged ambush predator in the scorpionfish family.
“It was very strange — it had this beautiful red colour and it walked on its pectoral fins like a set of hands,” Robin Beaman of James Cook University told ABC News.
He added that the closest known sighting of the fish was off the coast of Hawaii, so this was “a huge range extension”. |
|