Artistic Pufferfish by Mayah

There are 18,000 animal and plant species newly discovered this past year. This one is my favorite of the 10 featured in the online article.

Elaborate circles with geometric designs have cropped up on the seafloor off the coast of Japan’s Amami-Oshima Island, a la Signs, for the past 20 years. Scientists finally solved the mystery—the circles are created by a newly discovered pufferfish. The male pufferfish drag themselves across the sand to create these nests with the hope that they’ll attract female pufferfish. The ridges formed in the sand reduce the ocean current in the circle’s center to offer some protection to eggs that might be laid there.