Rediscovered Ocean Worms Found Hiding Among Seahorses

A species of marine worm, Haplosyllis anthogorgicola, unseen for nearly 70 years, has been rediscovered in coral colonies from Japan to Australia, thanks to images of tiny seahorses taken by scuba divers. These bristle worms, which live in gorgonian corals, were identified in hundreds of photos on iNaturalist, revealing their widespread presence and interactions with seahorses. The study highlights the potential of crowdsourced data to uncover the habits and distribution of understudied species.