Pegasus Sea Moth

Photo: pincetczy · CC BY-NC

Sea moths walk across the sandy floor on rigid pectoral fin-legs, their extraordinary dragon-like forms encased in bony armor and their wing-like pectoral fins spread wide as they scuttle in search of small worms and crustaceans buried in the sediment. They shed their entire skin every few days in a unique molting behavior among fish, possibly to remove external parasites, and their armored bodies make them nearly impossible for most predators to swallow.