Those samples had been largely misclassified in that they were labeled as a common seadragon.
Ruby sea dragon.
The common seadragon was previously the only member of its genus until the description of the ruby seadragon in 2015.
This third type of seadragon the ruby seadragon was so tough to find that it was only discovered in 2015 by complete accident when phd student josefin stiller realized something startling about samples collected back in 1919.
A ruby red sea dragon living off the southern coast of australia is the first new sea dragon researchers have discovered in 150 years.
The new species the ruby sea dragon is similar to the other species in appearance.
While this was an exciting discovery a live ruby sea dragon had never been recorded neither by divers nor those in the fishing.
The ruby seadragon phyllopteryx dewysea is a marine fish in the family syngnathidae which also includes seahorses it inhabits the coast of western australia the species was first described in 2015 making it only the third known species of seadragon and the first to be discovered in 150 years.
The main distinguishing characteristic is its bright red coloration hence the name ruby three species there are just three known species of sea dragons the leafy sea dragon the weedy or common sea dragon and the ruby sea dragon.
A specimen found on shore in 2007 was 23 5 cm 9 3 in long.
However the discovery arose from dna.
Instead it was its own species named the ruby sea dragon.
As they observed two ruby.
In the november 2006 issue of national geographic magazine marine biologist greg rouse is reported as investigating the dna variation of the two seadragon species across their ranges.