{"id":449902,"date":"2026-05-19T19:05:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T19:05:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/449902\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T19:05:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T19:05:18","slug":"scientists-discover-new-species-of-snuffleupagus-pipefish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/449902\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists discover new species of ‘Snuffleupagus’ pipefish"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2003, marine biologist David Harasti was diving off Papua New Guinea when he spotted a small fish-like creature flitting through the water. It was something very red, very hairy, and unlike anything he had ever seen before.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He went back to the same dive site six more times, but he couldn\u2019t find it again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the fish stayed on Harasti\u2019s mind. So he recruited the help of Graham Short, an ichthyologist and taxonomist at the California Academy of Sciences and the Australian Museum.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Together, they worked with Great Barrier Reef divers and looked through countless museum shelves in their mission to prove that the sea creature was real.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Through their research, they confirmed that Harasti had spotted a new species of hairy ghost pipefish from the Southwest Pacific. And it was just as red and \u201chairy\u201d as Harasti had recalled.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On May 10, 2026, Harasti and Short published a paper in the Journal of Fish Biology formally describing the new species<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AA Solenostomus snuffleupagus. Image via David Harasti<\/p>\n

They decided to name it Solenostomus snuffleupagus after Mr. Snuffleupagus, Big Bird\u2019s best friend from the beloved children\u2019s series \u201cSesame Street,\u201d in reference to the species\u2019 \u201cdistinctly shaggy, filamentous appearance and snout reminiscent of the character’s covering and trunk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so easy to say, \u2018Yeah, this looks like Snuffleupagus.\u2019 I mean, it\u2019s almost identical. It\u2019s scary,\u201d Short told Scientific American<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe may have had a few drinks and decided to e-mail Sesame Street Australia,\u201d he added, saying that they \u201canswered the following day\u201d and gave their blessing for the name.<\/p>\n

The S. snuffleupagus is now the seventh known species of ghost pipefish. All ghost pipefishes share common ancestry with Syngnathidae, a family of fish that includes seahorses, pipefishes, and sea dragons.<\/p>\n

\"ThreeThree specimens of S. snuffleupagus. the Images via David Harasti<\/p>\n

According to Short and Harasti, they are masters in the art of camouflage, \u201cfrequently mimicking algae, seagrasses, crinoids, and soft corals in both form and coloration.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to stature, the S. snuffleupagus is twice as small as the average pinky finger at just one to 1.5 inches in length. They play their part in the marine food web by feeding on even tinier creatures, like shrimp-like crustaceans and zooplankton.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so hairy compared to other species,\u201d Short said, referring to the ghost pipfish\u2019s filaments that stick out like an exoskeleton.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOther species can be a little bit hairy in certain spots, like under the snout,\u201d he explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this one took the hairy form all the way,\u201d he laughed. \u201cI mean, it looks ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200d<\/p>\n

You may also like: Spectacular blue ‘cavern creature’ spotted on expedition. It’s a new species<\/a><\/p>\n

\u200d<\/p>\n

Header image via David Harasti<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2003, marine biologist David Harasti was diving off Papua New Guinea when he spotted a small fish-like…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[85,46,141,386],"class_list":["post-449902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}