Haliichthys taeniophorus

The Ribboned Pipefish is a small creature from the waters of northern Australia. I came across it while researching seahorses. First, I came across this. Then I looked it up here. That's clearly not a pipefish, nor a snake in any way. That's a video game boss. Judging from the art of that area through other searches, it seems that they can detail animals so well that this is clearly what the artist intended to draw. Then even worse, there's this page. This is absolutely insane. Those "scientists" and field specialists are absolutely looney. Perhaps there is actual art based on the ribbon pipefish. At least the one on the left might be forgiven, even though its snout is more dolphinine. Any specialist who thinks that this is anything other than sheer creativity, several unknown prehistoric creatures, or straight up time travel is crazy. I don't know all representations of the rainbow snake, but this is clearly a modern viewpoint forcing different creative creatures into one representation. Even the various dragons that we have, with all of their different body parts, have more similarities between each other and to real animals than any of these things. This is why it's so important to double check your references. I don't actually know if there is any cave art of the ribbon pipefish. I did find this, which looks like cave art, but might be an artist copying the style (or otherwise redrawing actual cave art). I do not know why specialists in Australian Aboriginal cave paintings are denying the obvious the way outer-space experts deny aliens, but this is ridiculous. I can't believe this. What is this?
Category:Rainbow Snake
Category:Pipefishes
Category:Australian marine life