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Solenostomus snuffleupagus looks more like a clump of seaweed than a fish. That’s what made it so hard for researchers to find.
David Harasti/Wikimedia
It looks like a stray clump of seaweed with a trunk. Or a poorly styled wig. The tiny fish, just four to five centimeters long, makes many people smile. Behind its quirky appearance lies a small scientific sensation.
In fact, the animal is a previously unknown species of ghost pipefish. Its discoverers named the fish Solenostomus snuffleupagus—after the well-known “Sesame Street” character Mr. Snuffleupagus.
Anyone who looks at the fish immediately understands why: its long, thread-like, orange-brown appendages make it look as if it’s wearing the shaggy fur of its mammoth-like namesake.
However, the tiny creature camouflages itself so skillfully among algae and other marine plants that even experienced divers can easily overlook it. This ability is likely the reason why it remained undiscovered for so long.
The new fish species reminds researchers so strongly of Mr. Snuffleupagus from Sesame Street that it was immediately named after him.
Screenshot/Wikipedia
The story of the discovery began as early as 2001. At that time, Australian marine biologist David Harasti observed a strange fish during a dive off Papua New Guinea that he could not classify as any known species.
The creature stayed on his mind for years, and Harasti announced: If it turned out to be a new species, he wanted to name it after Sesame Street’s Snuffleupagus.
A scientific scavenger hunt spanning two decades ensued. Harasti returned several times to the tropical waters off Papua New Guinea, where he had first seen the mysterious fish. Meanwhile, his colleague Graham Short combed through museum collections and old specimens. For a long time, the species remained a mystery.
It wasn’t until 2021 that divers reported strange, furry little fish at the Great Barrier Reef off Australia’s northeast coast, the world’s largest coral reef. The two researchers traveled there immediately. On their first dive, they found nothing. On the second dive, they finally discovered two specimens of the sought-after creature among swaying seaweed and coral.
The researchers’ reaction was anything but dispassionately scientific, as they recount in National Geographic. Graham Short describes high-fives, hugs, and shouts of joy underwater. Back in the lab, DNA analyses confirmed their suspicion: it was indeed a previously unknown species.
The search was thus over. The researchers had finally found the mysterious fish. Five years later, they described the new species in the Journal of Fish Biology.
A closer examination revealed why Solenostomus snuffleupagus had eluded science for so long. Ghost pipefish are among the greatest masters of disguise in the underwater world. They are close relatives of seahorses and pipefish and have specialized in mimicking corals, algae, or seagrass to a deceptively realistic degree.
Here’s what other ghost pipefish look like: The juvenile of the species Solenostomus leptosomus differs significantly from the newly described Solenostomus snuffleupagus.
Nhobgood Nick Hobgood/Wikimedia
The new Snuffleupagus fish takes this principle to the extreme. Its long, hair-like appendages sway in the current like strands of algae. Its appearance even changes depending on its habitat. Some specimens glow red or violet, while others appear orange or brown.
From a distance, it looks more like a drifting piece of seaweed than a vertebrate. Even experienced divers therefore often swim right past it. After analyzing photos on the iNaturalist platform, it turned out that people had already photographed the fish in Tonga, New Caledonia, and Papua New Guinea without realizing it was an unknown species.
Most ghost pipefish feed on small crustaceans, which they suck in with their tube-shaped mouth. With the new Snuffleupagus, however, the researchers found a surprise: a small fish was found in the stomach of one specimen. This could indicate that the species occasionally hunts larger prey than its relatives.
The location of the discovery is also remarkable. The shaggy little fish was not found in a barely explored deep-sea region, but on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia—one of the most intensively studied marine areas in the world. Yet unknown species still turn up there.
For David Harasti and Graham Short, this is the real message behind the discovery. Even in well-studied ecosystems, numerous species could still be living in hiding —especially those that camouflage themselves as masterfully as the “Snuffleupagus of the seas.”
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