Pea-sized pony



This is Satomi's pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus satomiae).



It is the smallest known seahorse, with a standard length of 13.8 millimetres and an approximate height of 11.5mm.



It was discovered near Derawan island, off the coast of Kalimantan – the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo.



(Image: John Sear)

Snail that’s whorls apart



Opisthostoma vermiculum is unique, because of the way its shell twists.



Most snail shells coil tightly, following a logarithmic spiral. They also coil around no more than three axes.



The shell of O. vermiculum, however, coils around four axes – the most for any known gastropod. The whorls, meanwhile, detach three times and reattach themselves, twice, to preceding whorls.



O. vermiculum appears to be restricted to a single region of limestone karst geography: Gunung Rapat, in Perak, Malaysia.



(Image: World Wildlife Fund for Nature Malaysia/Reuben Clements)

Self-destructive palm



Tahina spectabilis is the palm that flowers itself to death.



Commonly known as the Tahina palm, the gigantic plant produces a huge mass of flowers. Most palms flower throughout their lives, but the Tahina Palm does so only once – at the end of its life. After fruiting, the palm dies and collapses.



The new genus is unrelated to any other of the 170-plus palms of Madagascar and is only known to grow in the northwestern Analalava district. Fewer than 100 individuals have been identified.



(Image: Kew Gardens/John Dransfield) Advertisement

Abyssal blue



This is the deep blue chromis (Chromis abyssus).



The publication in which this species, and four others, were described heralded a new era in taxonomy: it was the first act registered in the taxonomic database ZooBank.



The discovery of the new species off the coast of Ngemelis island, Palau, also highlights how little we know of deep-reef biodiversity.



(Image: Bishop Museum/John Earle)

Fantastic phasmatid



Phobaeticus chani, part of the Phasmatidae family, is the world's longest insect.



The stick insect's body alone is 35.6 centimetres long, and with its legs and antennae it reaches a overall length of 56.7 cm.



It is found in the Ulu Moyog area of Borneo, Malaysia.



(Image: Phasmid Study Group / Phil Bragg)

Devonian delivery



The mother fish, Materpiscis attenboroughi, is the oldest known vertebrate to give birth to live young.



The fossilised specimen is an extremely rare find, showing a mother fish giving birth approximately 380 million years ago. This date places it in the early Frasnian subdivision of the Devonian period.



The fossil was found near Fitzroy Crossing in Western Australia.



(Image: Museum Victoria/John A. Long)

No jump in these beans



Charrier coffee, Coffea charrieriana, is a new caffeine-free coffee from Cameroon.



It is the first known caffeine-free species from Central Africa, though others have been found elsewhere.



Cameroon is a centre of diversity for the Coffea genus, and wild species like C. charrierianaare potentially important in breeding programmes.



In this case, the new species could be used for breeding naturally decaffeinated beans.



(Image: University of Montpellier II/François Anthony)