Scientist David Harasti was certain about the name for the small orange creature he discovered during a diving expedition in Papua New Guinea back in 2003. It took twenty years for Harasti and his colleague Graham Short to rediscover the elusive fish, study it, and officially classify it as a new species.
The newly designated species, Solenostomus snuffleupagus, was named after the popular Sesame Street character, Mr. Snuffleupagus, affectionately known as “Snuffy.” Short, an ichthyologist at the California Academy of Sciences and the Australian Museum, remarked on the striking resemblance between the fish and the character.
In a recent publication in the journal Fish Biology, Short and Harasti detailed S. snuffleupagus as a new ghost pipefish species that inhabits coral reefs, camouflaging itself as red algae.
Characterized by its orange-brown color, long filaments resembling shaggy hair, and an elephant-like snout, S. snuffleupagus shares similarities with its namesake. Marine biologist Milton Love from the University of California emphasized the fascinating adaptations brought about by natural selection that make the fish visually appealing and functional.
The elusiveness of the snuffy fish mirrors that of Mr. Snuffleupagus from Sesame Street. After years of unsuccessful attempts to locate the fish post the initial sighting in 2003, Short and Harasti finally found the species on the Great Barrier Reef in 2021 with the help of fellow divers.
CT scans of specimens collected in 1993 near Queensland, Australia, confirmed S. snuffleupagus as a distinct species, previously unnoticed. The fish, a relative of the seahorse, has been sighted through the iNaturalist platform across various Pacific locations.
Despite its resemblance to the muppet Snuffleupagus, the fish is significantly smaller, measuring only four to five centimeters in length. Unlike its benign namesake, S. snuffleupagus is a carnivorous predator, preying on small fish rather than crustaceans as previously assumed.
Short expressed joy at the widespread interest in S. snuffleupagus and hinted at future discoveries, teasing the potential naming of another ghost pipefish species after a different muppet character.