Ruby Seadragon Makes its Debut as a New Species

"It has been 150 years since the last seadragon was described and all this time we thought that there were only two species," Wilson said in a statement. "Suddenly, there is a third species! If we can overlook such a charismatic new species for so long, we definitely have many more exciting discoveries awaiting us in the oceans."

Further investigation found that the WAM had many other examples of the species in their collection aside from the 2007 specimen - all of which had been hiding in plain sight.

"This new seadragon first entered the Western Australia Museum's collection in 1919, and lay unidentified for almost a century," Wilson explained. "Recognizing this new species demonstrates how museum collections underpin biodiversity discovery."

"We're now in a golden age of taxonomy and these powerful DNA tools are making it possible for more new species than ever to be discovered," added Rouse, curator of the Scripps Benthic Invertebrate Collection. "That such large charismatic marine species are still being found is evidence that there is still much to be done."