![]() |
 |
.gif) |
|
|
世界上最小的海马(World's Smallest Seahorse Discovered)
我爱英语网 http://www.52en.com
The smallest known species[物种] of seahorse has been found in Indonesian[印尼] waters, a tiny creature no bigger than a fingernail[指甲].
Full-grown[发育完全的] members of the species, called Hippocampus denise, are usually 16 mm long. Marine biologists[海洋生物学家] knew about the animals, but mistook them for juveniles[未发育完全生物] of another of the 32 known species of seahorses.
The next smallest seahorse, H. bargibanti, averages 24 mm long.
According to marine biologist Sara Lourie, a member of the University of British Columbia-based Project Seahorse marine conservation[海洋保护] team who discovered the species, "Compared with other small seahorses, they're active little creatures."
Although seahorses are under threat[威胁] from fishing, the new species' very habitat[栖息地] may be protecting it from over-exploitation[过度开发], a UBC press release said. Hippocampus denise lives in deeper water, mostly attached to sea fans. The color of the fans camouflage[伪装] the creatures almost perfectly.
However, the species has only been spotted[发现] a handful of times, so Lourie warned that it's hard to know just how threatened they could be. Heavy-duty trawling gear can flatten reefs — one potential[潜在的] threat.
And, Lourie said, "Divers[潜水员] and photographers could possibly love these animals to death."
Lourie worked with John Randall of the Bishop Museum in Honolulu[火奴鲁鲁], Hawaii, to describe the new species. Their research appears in the current issue of the journal Zoological Studies[动物学研究].
【原载DISCOVERY/52EN.Com编译◎译文仅供参考】
|
|
|
|
 |
|
