A RUBY seadragon has been spotted on camera for the first time.

    The rare species, that was discovered in 2015 in museum collections, was recently caught on camera in the Recherche Archipelago off the south coast of Western Australia.

    Video footage of the ruby seadragon was captured using a remotely operated vehicle with a low-light video camera, because it lives at depths of more than 50 meters.

    The new images showed the seadragon’s intense red color and revealed its habitat is very different from the algal reefs occupied by its relatives.

    “Until recently, no one had ever suspected a third species of seadragon existed,” Professor Greg Rouse from Scripps Oceanography, lead author of the study said. “This discovery was made thanks to the great benefit of museum collections.”

    The ruby seadragon is only the third kind of seadragon ever recorded, the other being the instantly recognizable leafy seadragon, which has a green and orange hue.

    The animal’s deep red coloring indicates it inhabits deeper waters than the other two species because the shading effectively goes black at depth, serving as camouflage.

    The first recorded specimen of the uniquely adorned creature washed up on Cottesloe Beach in 1919 and was until now thought to be a common seadragon, which has yellow and purple hues.

    Through DNA sampling technology and research linking it to other specimens, it was shown in 2015 to be a new species.

    But the new images showed a striking difference between the species, the ruby seadragon does not have leaf-like appendages that camouflage its fellow seadragons.

    “It was really quite an amazing moment when we discovered that the ruby seadragon lacks appendages,” said Josefin Stiller, Scripps graduate student and co-author of the paper.

    The researchers were also surprised to find that the ruby seadragon has a tail it may use to cling on to the rocks, to avoid being swept away by strong sea surges. Common and leafy seadragons cannot bend their tails, which raises questions about the evolution of tails in this group of organisms, according to the researchers.(SD-Agencies)