Psychedelic Frog Fish a New Species

With its flattened face, the fish’s eyes appear to be directed forward and may provide it with binocular vision, a special attribute well developed in humans that provides the ability to accurately judge distance. Only very few fishes have eyes whose radius of vision overlaps in front, providing such vision. Courtesy of David Hall/seaphotos.com

A funky, psychedelic fish that bounces on the ocean floor like a rubber ball has been classified as a new species. The frogfish — which has a swirl of tan and peach zebra stripes that extend from its aqua eyes to its tail — was initially discovered by scuba diving instructors working for a tour operator a year ago in shallow waters off Ambon island in eastern Indonesia.

The operator contacted Ted Pietsch, lead author of a paper published in Copeia, the journal of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, who submitted DNA work identifying it as a new species.

The fish — which the University of Washington professor has named “psychedelica” — is a member of the antennariid genus, Histiophryne, and like other frogfish, has

H. psychedelica jet-propels itself through the water. More than a dozen individuals have been seen in Ambon Harbor, Indonesia, since divers with Maluku Divers first spotted one of the fish in January 2008. The fish have been found in 15 to 25 feet of water near a commercial jetty in the busy harbor. Courtesy of David Hall/seaphotos.com

fins on both sides of its body that have evolved to be leg-like. However, according to Pietsch, it has several behavioral traits not previously known to the others.

Each time the fish strike the seabed, for instance, they push off with their fins and expel water from tiny gill openings to jet themselves forward. That, and an off-centered tail, causes them to bounce around in a bizarre, chaotic manner.

Mark Erdman, a senior adviser to the Conservation International’s marine program, said Thursday it was an exciting discovery: “I think people thought frogfishes were relatively well known and to get a new one like this is really quiet spectacular. … It’s a stunning animal,” he said, adding that the fish’s stripes were probably intended to mimic coral.

“It also speaks to the tremendous diversity in this region and to fact that there are still a lot of unknowns here — in Indonesia and in the Coral Triangle in general.”

The fish, which has a gelatinous fist-sized body covered with thick folds of skin that protect it from sharp-edged corals, also has a flat face with eyes directed forward, like humans, and a huge, yawning mouth.

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Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

H. psychedelica sits on its leg-like pectoral fins, with its tail curled about to one side. It prefers to inhabit crevices and holes in the reef, sometimes vigorously twisting and turning its body to enter such spaces. The skin of the body is thick, loose and spongy. Perhaps that’s the reason the fish moves among sharp edged corals without being scraped and scarred. Courtesy of David Hall/seaphotos.com

Leg-like pectoral fins are commonly found in anglerfish which prefer crawling to swimming. Courtesy of David Hall/seaphotos.com