The weedfish is cryptic. That doesn’t mean that it speaks in riddles or leaves notes that no one can decipher. Instead, it’s easily hidden—it blends into its environment. Divers say it’s so well disguised that even if you find one, it’s impossible to find it again if you look away for even just a second.

There are several species of weedfish. Most of them live around New Zealand or southern Australia. They’re mainly found in shallow waters, living in dense beds of kelp—the “seaweed” that’s anchored to the bottom.

The weedfish is small—no more than about seven inches long. It has a slender body that’s crested by a tall, forward-angled fin that looks a bit like a mohawk. It feeds on small fish and crustaceans, usually at depths of no more than a hundred feet.

Each species of weedfish blends in with the type of kelp bed it inhabits. The golden crested weedfish, for example, has a canary-yellow body with a streak below its eye like a dark teardrop. Other species have their own colors and patterns to match the background.

Like many other fish, the weedfish is facing some tough times. Lobsters, fish, and other types of marine life have been overharvested. That’s allowed sea urchins to flourish. And they gorge on kelp, sometimes wiping out entire beds. Without the kelp, there’s no place for the weedfish to hide. So there’s nothing cryptic about it—the population of weedfish could plunge in the decades ahead.

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