DNA in the water shows South African scientists where to find a rare pipefish

The estuarine pipefish is not easy to find - it camouflages itself amid seagrass. Louw Claassens

Keeping track of the world’s wildlife populations is fundamental to conservation efforts in the face of the continued deterioration of global biodiversity.

But some species are harder to study than others. Some aquatic species, for instance, elude detection because they are extremely rare and sparsely distributed.