The bizarre behaviour of the member of the frogfish family - spotted by scuba divers off the island of Ambon in eastern Indonesia - has earned itself the nickname "psychedelica".
Research published in the US scientific journal Copeia said the fish has a "broad flat face, surrounded by thick, fleshy, laterally expanded cheeks and chin, with eyes directed forward; skin of the body thick and loose, forming conspicuous fleshy folds that envelop the unpaired fins; a remarkable pigment pattern of white swirling stripes radiating from the eyes and continuing back to the body and tail".
Scientists at the University of Washington identified it as a new species.
They described it's bizarre movement.
"Members of Histiophryne psychedelica, or H. psychedelica, don't so much swim as hop. Each time they strike the seafloor they use their fins to push off and they expel water from tiny gill openings on their sides to jet themselves forward. With tails curled tightly to one side --which surely limits their ability to steer -- they look like inflated rubber balls bouncing hither and thither."
For more pics and video of psychedelica visit the University of Washington's news site.
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