A funky, psychedelic fish that bounces on the ocean floor like a rubber ball has been classified as a new species, a scientific journal reported.

據一份科學期刊報導，一種奇形怪狀、色彩鮮艷、可以像橡皮球般從海床彈跳起來的魚，已經被歸類為新的物種。

The frogfish--which has a swirl of tan and peach zebra stripes that extend from its aqua eyes to its tail (see photo)--was initially discovered by scuba diving instructors working for a tour operator a year ago in shallow waters off Ambon island in eastern Indonesia. It has a broad flat face, thick fleshy cheeks and chin, and eyes that look forward like a human's.

這種襞魚科從眼線到尾巴有著如渦流般黃褐桃紅色斑馬紋（見圖耟美聯社），一年前在印尼東部安汶島淺水海域由為一家旅遊業者工作的水肺潛水教練最早發現。這種魚有張寬大扁平的臉，臉部和下巴的肉厚實，眼睛像人一樣往前直視。

The operator contacted Ted Pietsch, lead author of a paper published in this month's edition of Copeia, the journal of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, who submitted DNA work identifying it as a new species. The fish--which the University of Washington professor has named "psychedelica"--is a member of the antennariid genus, Histiophryne, and like other frogfish, has fins on both sides of its body that have evolved to be leg-like.

旅遊業者聯絡「美國魚類及兩爬學家學會」出版的這個月期刊《Copeia》上發表的一篇報告的作者皮耶希，他提出DNA檢驗報告，指認牠是新物種。這位華盛頓大學教授管這種魚叫「迷幻魚」，屬於襞魚科，並一如其他襞魚科，魚身兩側都有已經演化成類似人足的魚鰭。

But it has several behavioral traits not previously known to the others, Pietsch wrote. Each time the fish strike the seabed, for instance, they push off with their fins and expel water from tiny gill openings to jet themselves forward. That, and an off-centered tail, causes them to bounce around in a bizarre, chaotic manner.

但皮耶希寫道，這種迷幻魚有幾項之前不為人知的行為特徵，例如，每當這種魚衝擊海床時，牠們就用魚鰭推離，並從魚鰓的小開口排出水，把自己往前噴射推進。再加上偏離中心的尾巴，使牠們以異乎尋常的混亂模式到處彈跳。

Mark Erdman, a senior adviser to the Conservation International's marine program, said it was an exciting discovery. "I think people thought frogfishes were relatively well known and to get a new one like this is really quite spectacular. ... It's a stunning animal," he said, adding that the fish's stripes were probably intended to mimic coral. They are mostly bottom-dwelling fish, typically living amongst coral, at up to 100 metres depth, where they lie in wait for prey. They are able to change their colour to match the background with high precision, and their camouflage is further aided by numerous warts and filaments on their skin, giving them an appearance similar to rough coral.

「國際保育組織」海洋計畫資深顧問厄德曼說，這是一項令人振奮的發現。「我想，大家都認為襞魚科相對廣為人知，因此出現這種新魚種真的是一項相當驚人的發現…這是一種絕色美人魚，」他說。他並解釋說，魚身上的條紋可能是用來模仿珊瑚的斑斕色彩。基本上，牠們多半生活在河床上的珊瑚間，最深可達海底100公尺，靜候牠們的獵物。這些魚也可以極端精準地隨背景轉換改變身上的色彩，身上的保護色加上魚皮上無數的疣和細絲，使牠們看來像凹凸不平的珊瑚。

"It also speaks to the tremendous diversity in this region and to fact that there are still a lot of unknowns in Indonesia and in the Coral Triangle in general," he said.

「這也足以說明這個地區物種極其多樣，同時在印尼及太平洋珊瑚礁三角帶構成的海景區仍有很多未知物種的事實，」他說。

The fish, which has a gelatinous fist-sized body covered with thick folds of skin that protect it from sharp-edged corals, also has a a huge, yawning mouth. The question with this new discovery is how it went unnoticed for so long. The species was first discovered almost 20 years ago, but sat on a shelf--wrongly labelled and gathering dust - until this most recent find.

這種魚身形如拳頭般大小，包覆凝膠和層層厚厚的魚皮，可以保護牠不致受到尖銳的珊瑚傷害，牠還有一張張開的巨大魚嘴。問題是這項新發現為什麼隔了這麼久才曝光。這種魚早在大約20年前就第一次被人發現，但因坐在暗礁上，被誤為其他魚種，並塵封多年，直到最近才被人發現。

It came to light when the divers were unable to identify the fish from photographs circulated among their colleagues, and sent pictures to Ted Pietsch, a frogfish expert at the University of Washington.

這種迷幻魚之所以曝光，是因潛水人員在彼此傳閱牠的照片後無法指認是什麼魚，才把照片寄給華盛頓大學襞魚科專家皮耶希。