A unique new species of seahorse, Hippocampus paradoxus, has been described from Australia. It differs from all other known seahorses by having no dorsal fin. Instead it has a series of fleshy, fin-like lobes along the dorsal midline of the body and tail.
Only one specimen, a female, is known. The fish was collected as long ago as 1995, by scientists researching bryozoans, and had lain in a museum collection ever since, until discovered recently by seahorse specialists examining the collection.
The specimen was collected to the south west of Esperance in Western Australia, on the extreme western edge of the Great Australian Bight.
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