Mantis Shrimp The mantis shrimp is not only extremely colorful itself but has more than twice as many color receptors in its eyes as any other animal on earth, in fact, 12 photoreceptors total, 9 more than humans. So, if with 3 photoreceptors (Red,Green, & Blue) humans can see roughly 10,000,000 distinct colors, with the mantis shrimp's 12 photoreceptors combined, mathematically the amount of colors a mantis shrimp could see would be astronomical. Also, unlike most animals that need two or more eyes to perceive depth, each eye of the mantis shrimp can perceive depth individually. |
Sparklemuffin The "sparklemuffin" (nickname) is a variation of peacock spider found in Australia. They are so named because of their flambouyant colors and mating rituals much like peacocks. |
Barrel Eye fish This strange fish has a transparent (see-through) head. The lenses of its tubular (barrel) eyes are visible as two green spheres inside of its head which could easily be mistaken for its brain. It actually sees the outside world through its own head. Its transparent head acts as a sheild over its eyes and is actually used for protection of the eyes. Two objects located on the front of its head by its mouth which appear to be eyes are actually its nostrils. |
Cuttlefish Cuttlefish are quite possibly the most amazing animals on the planet. Cuttlefish eyes are W shaped. Cuttlefish have eight limbs plus two tentacles, all of which come out of their head. Their tentacles are furnished with denticulated suckers (meaning toothlike), with which they secure their prey. And underneath all of that it has a birdlike beak. They have a cuttlebone (where their name is derived) which is a porous bone which is used to increase or decrease their bouyancy by changing the liquid-gas ratio inside it. In addition to the cuttlebone, cuttlefish can move by jet propulsion using their mantle cavity or with their fin. They have blue-green blood pumped from three separate hearts. Two of their hearts are reserved just for supplying blood to the gills. Flamboyant cuttlefish even contain a highly toxic compound within their muscles. They are sometimes called the chameleon of the seas because they can change their color at will, through a set of 129,000 dpi set of four-tone chromatophores. Their technique is far more advanced than any chameleon. A single cuttlefish can become speckled, ocellate (produce eye-spots), stippled, lineate, whorled, black, white, brown, gray, pink, red, iridescentall in different combinations and all in less than a second. It can hold zebra stripes for hours or send waves of color flickering across its skin like a marquee sign. It can make half its body white while the other half displays lines. Its skin can pucker into riffles and spines and bumps, then suddenly go smooth as polished stone. Cuttlefish use this ability both for camoflauge and to communicate among each other. Not only can they control their color, but they can also detect the polarization of light around them which enhances their perception of contrast. Like octopuses, cuttlefish are equipped with ink jets which they can fire at will. The cuttlefish can eject its ink in two ways: One way creates a smoke screen behind which the animal can escape perceived danger. In the other, the released ink takes the form of pseudomorphs, or bubbles of ink surrounded by mucus that are roughly the size of the cuttlefish and can act as decoys. The ink, which contains dopamine and L-DOPA, a precursor to dopamine, may also temporarily paralyze the sense of smell in predators that hunt by scent. Possibly most amazing of all, in scenarios where small male cuttlefish have found themselves out-muscled by larger rival males that are guarding a potential mating female, a small male can adopt female coloring and patterns to sneak past the larger males undetected and mate surreptitiously with the female. |
Sea Salps A salp is a barrel-shaped, planktonic tunicate. It moves by contracting, thus pumping water through its gelatinous body. The salp strains the pumped water through its internal feeding filters, feeding on phytoplankton. During one portion of it's life cycle a chain of salps will collect together. They remain attached together while swimming and feeding, and each individual grows in size. Each individual in the chain reproduces sexually (they are sequential hermaphrodites, first maturing as females, and are fertilized by male gametes produced by older chains), with a growing embryo oozoid attached to the body wall of the parent. |
Spookfish The spookfish is the only vertebrate to evolve a method of vision by using a mirror. Lenses absorb some of the passing light when refracting an image but mirrors don't. Therefore the Spookfish can see in very dimly lit areas. |
Surinam (Amazonian) Horned Frog Found in the northern part of South America, it has an exceptionally wide mouth, and has horn-like projections above its eyes. Females lay up to 1,000 eggs at a time. The frog eats other frogs, lizards and mice. Even the tadpoles of the Surinam horned frog attack each other. |
Sun Spider (Wind Scorpion) Solifugae as they are actually called, are a different order from the true spiders and the scorpions being somewhere in between. Due to their bizarre appearance many people are startled by or even afraid of them and many urban legends have been borne from them. They are non-venomous although they are capable of inflicting a painful bite with their powerful jaws. |
Angler fish Angler fish are named for their characteristic mode of predation, wherein
a fleshy growth from their head acts as a lure. The lure is movable in all
directions, and it can be wiggled so as to resemble a prey animal, and thus to act as bait
to lure other predators close enough for the anglerfish to devour them whole. Some
deep-sea anglerfishes can even emit light from their lures to attract prey.
>>> Nothing more than a pair of gonads! <<< |
Chimaeras Rhinochimaeridae, commonly known as long-nosed chimaeras, have an exceptionally long, conical or paddle-shaped, snout. The snout has numerous sensory nerve endings, and is used to find food such as small fish. The first dorsal fin includes a mildly venomous spine, used in defense. |
Glass frog The glass frog is absolutely stunning. Note the visible organs. Unfortunately, with tropical rainforests in Central and South America threatened, the glass frog, being endangered, may go extinct. |
Axolotl (Mexican walking fish) The Mexican walking fish is actually a salamander that lives in two lakes near Mexico City. It is however on the verge of extinction. |
Weta The weta is native to New Zealand. There are actually over 70 species of weta, with 16 being endangered or at risk. The giant weta was thought to be extinct but a new population was recently found. They arent the cutest bugs around, but they are harmless. |
Mola Molas The ocean sunfish grows from 1/10th inch long as a larvae to as much as 14 feet long and 4000 lbs. That's a gain of 60,000,000 times its birth weight! |
Platypus The platypus is a semi-aquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. It is the sole living representative of its family and genus, though a number of related species have been found in the fossil record. The bizarre appearance of this egg-laying, venomous, duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed mammal baffled European naturalists when they first encountered it, with some considering it an elaborate fraud. It is one of the few venomous mammals; the male Platypus has a spur on the hind foot that delivers a venom capable of causing severe pain to humans. The Platypus has a bill that resembles a duck's bill but is actually an elongated snout covered with soft, moist, leathery skin and sensitive nerve endings. The feet are webbed. The body and tail are covered with a thick, soft, woolly layer of fur, from which long, flat hairs protrude. The platypus has three layers of fur: 1. an inside layer to trap air and keep the animal warm 2. a middle layer which works like a wet suit 3. an outer layer to feel if it is close to objects. The Platypus is known to live for at least 12 years in the wild. The eggs are incubated between the belly and the tail of the female and hatch after about 10 days. Like the echidna, the platypus lacks nipples. Milk from the mammary glands oozes through the skin along both sides of the mother's belly where it is then sucked up by the young platypuses. |
Giant Coconut Crab Giant crabs are native to Guam and other Pacific islands. Coconut crabs
arent endangered, per se, but due to tropical habitat destruction they are at risk.
In WWII, American soldiers stationed in the Pacific theater wrote home with tales about |
Glowing fish Scientists in Taipei have developed fish that glow in the dark. The scientists tried making certain organs glow by using a fluorescent protein from jellyfish but the whole fish began to glow. These fish are sterile and cant reproduce. |
Spider Crabs The Japanese spider crab has the greatest leg span of any arthropod, reaching 12 feet from claw to claw. |
Chinese Giant Salamander Giant salamanders have been found living under some peoples porches! The United States is also home to a giant salamander called the Hellbender. However, it is not as endangered as the shockingly strange-looking Chinese cousin. The Chinese giant salamander can grow to be nearly six feet long. |