Pets
The strange appearance of some fish
Visually, fish are animals that can be very striking, both for their shapes and for the combination of their colors. However, there are cases in which there may be more reasons to turn to see them. Its appearance, from several points of view, is very strange.
It is no longer just its shape or the vibrant or pearly colors of its scales, it is all its characteristics as a whole that are impossible to ignore. They are not common and, to a large extent, surprise.
Fish with a strange appearance
There are numerous factors that explain the strange appearance of some fish. In fact, most of the extravagant fauna that exists today inhabits the abyssal waters and areas of greater depth.
The chest fish
Lactophrys trigonus It owes its name to its golden trunk-shaped body. This body is covered externally by bone plates of beautiful colors. These plates are so hard that it makes it impossible to squirm or bend the body as others do.
This original armor only has openings for the eyes, mouth, tail and small fins. Deprived of freedom of movement, the chest fish swims awkwardly and can only feed on small, slow animals. For this same reason, sometimes you can see him on the shore, head down, throwing jets of water on the sand or silt, to discover crustaceans and worms.
The bat fish
Ogcocephalus declivirostris It is one of the bat fish that are distributed by tropical and subtropical waters. The only sea where they are not found is in the Mediterranean.
It belongs to the group of pediculates, which means “small feet.” They are named for their pectoral fins, inserted in a kind of stumps. These fins serve to lean on the bottom and crawl, or to hold on to floating objects.
His body is thin and flat when viewed in profile, but very bulky when viewed from above.; It is characterized by being covered with sharp spines, having large lateral bulging eyes and a small mouth next to the belly.
The batfish feeds on fish that it catches by means of a bait, similar to how monkfish or pejesapo does, with whom it is related. His “rigging” is a thin filament that hangs in front of his mouth. And the bait is a fleshy, bulky protuberance that attracts helpless little fish.
The moonfish
The moonfish (Great great) It has a strange appearance, especially for its dimensions of up to 3 meters in length. It is also known as »big-headed fish», because outwardly it seems to be all head.
It belongs to the family of the solids, neighbor of the chest fish and the hedgehog fish. He lives on the high seas and is in warm waters.
Sometimes it floats on the surface, but spends most of the time near the bottom, stalking the passage of squid and other animals.
The moonfish, the batfish and the chestfish are some of the specimens that can cause the greatest impression – in the first instance – because of their extraordinary characteristics.
The puffer fish
The puffer fish belongs to the family Tetradontidae Y He has the curious ability to swell considerably when he sees a danger. Some swallow water and others take air to increase volume. This property of being able to inflate the body occurs even in the young.
Those who take a breath, turn upside down and rise to the surface, where they float. In addition, they have the body covered with small and harmless spines.
The hedgehog fish
Of the family Diodontidae, the hedgehog fish is very common in warm seas.
Like the puffer fish, in case of danger, it expands its body covered with thorns until it becomes a ball. Their fins are hidden while their spikes stand tall and stiff.
As soon as the threat disappears, it expels the water it has aspirated to increase its volume and lowers its spines. Thus it seems covered by a layer of needles.
The strangest fish of all: the seahorse
There is no doubt that this little animal looks different from the rest of the fish. It has been said that he has:
- Monkey’s tail.
- Horse’s head.
- Kangaroo Marsupium.
- Insect exoskeleton and independent eye movement, such as chameleons.
Therefore, it is not surprising that it is included in the list of fish with a strange appearance.
The most outstanding peculiarity of the seahorse is offered by the male. It is he who owns a ventral bag, in which the female introduces the eggs so that it incubates them.
When the pups are ready to be born, the male gives small shakes so that the small hippocampus are fired.
Final note
As we have seen, there are several fish that look strange which, in no way, can go unnoticed by the naked eye.
Of course, there are other specimens – known and still to be discovered – with equally extraordinary and striking characteristics.
