00:00It looks exactly like a seahorse, but it isn't one.
00:03Scientists have described a new fish from deep reefs off southern Australia.
00:07They call it the helmet-head sea muppet, after the helmet-like crest on its head.
00:12It has a seahorse's bent head, curled tail, and a male brood pouch.
00:16But scans showed its skeleton is different.
00:18It lacks the seahorse's bony belly cage and the bony crown on its head.
00:23DNA from one specimen placed it outside the seahorse's altogether.
00:27So the team gave it, and two relatives their own genus.
00:30That means the seahorse body plant evolved at least twice in the same fish family.
00:35Only seven specimens are known, collected over about 65 years.
00:39Everyone was hauled up by accident in trawl nets or dredges.
00:42One even sat misfiled in a museum invertebrate collection for years.
00:46And no one has ever seen a sea muppet alive.
00:49Disclosure, this video contains stock footage and content created or enhanced using AI-assisted tools.
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