The ocean is a vast expanse full of mystery. Within its murky depths live some of the strangest creatures imaginable, and there are new ones being discovered every day. Up until now, though, one’s existence was little more than a rumor. It’s the ruby seadragon.
It wasn’t until last year that researchers realized the ruby seadragon might be real. During a study of common seadragons at the Western Australian Museum, they noticed that a couple of the specimens didn’t have the leafy appendages seadragons are known for. Most people, however, assumed that they had simply fallen off. But during a dive off Western Australia’s Recherche Archipelago, the ruby seadragon was finally spotted in the wild. While diving at a depth of around 160 feet, researchers stumbled across the strange creature and filmed it for half an hour.
It has a few interesting features, as well. Since it doesn’t live in the same kelp forests as the common seadragon, it doesn’t have those camouflaging leaf-like appendages. It also has a curled tail and a deep red skin color, lending to its name. This is because of the depth it lives at–the color red doesn’t penetrate very far through water, so the seadragon is basically invisible to prey and predators.
