A University of Washington professor says a recently discovered fish that crawls instead of swimming and has forward-looking eyes like humans could be part of an entirely unknown family of fishes.

The creature sighted in Indonesian waters off Ambon Island has tan- and peach-colored zebra-stripping. It uses its leglike pectoral fins to burrow into cracks and crevices of coral reefs in search of food.

UW professor Ted Pietsch says this relative of the anglerfish will have to undergo DNA scrutiny to verify that it is unique. But the world’s leading authority on anglerfish says he’s never seen anything like it.

Pietsch says they have probably escaped notice until now because they are so good at sliding into narrow crevices.