Fun Facts About Sea Moths

Appearance

• Sea moths keep to the seabed, and use specially adapted pelvic fins to move along sandy surfaces. They have bodies that are covered in bony plates; each plate is fused together. These bony plates cover their tails too, helping the sea moth to move along the sea bed while also allowing flexibility. Sea moths have tough, flattened bodies. Their pectoral fins are horizontal. The size of a sea moth varies, but the longtail sea moth, a common variety, grows to roughly 6 inches long.

Reproduction

• During the sea moth mating process, scientists have observed that both the male and the female fish swim upwards together. The sperm are released from the male at the same time as the female releases her eggs. Some of these eggs are snared on the tails of the fish, getting caught between the various bone plates that make up sea moth tails.

Behavior

• Sea moths are part of a group known as bottom dwelling fish, which means they live close to ocean and sea beds. They tend to dwell among the sand of these bottoms, where their color allows them to remain camouflaged so that they can sneak up on prey such as crustaceans. Sea moths feed using a tube-like mouth that protrudes outwards from the fish's body. Sea moths are often spotted in pairs, according to online resource AmazingLanta.

Range

• Sea moth fish can be found in oceans such as the Indo-Pacific area and the Indian tropics. In particular, the Dragon sea moth variety lives off the coasts of countries such as South Africa and Australia and in the Red Sea, while the longtail sea moth can be found in the Persian Gulf and near to countries such as New Guinea and the south of Japan.

Varieties

• The Pegasidae family of animals contains five species. These include the dragon sea moth, which lives on benthic crustaceans, and can often be found crawling on the bottom of lagoons. This type of sea moth usually only measures around 3 inches in length. The Hawaiian sea moth is, as the name implies, a native of the Hawaiian Islands, and again is only around 3 inches big. It is an inhabitant of the bottom of lagoons and the depths near reefs.