Author Topic: Weird Underwater Creatures (Read 567181 times)

Toom · « **Reply #75 on:** May 14, 2007, 04:48:13 pm »

Sea lilies! (Not actual lilies, actual lilies do not have mouths).

Check out that wicked little monster!

Xocrates · « **Reply #76 on:** May 25, 2007, 12:29:09 am »

You know, I was kinda disappointed no one mentioned the sunfish. I saw one at a local aquarium this monday and it freaked the bejebus out of me:

Oh, and... hey Guys

Xiagan · « **Reply #77 on:** May 28, 2007, 04:30:56 pm »

Funny, in Germany we call it a "Moonfish"...

PHeMoX · « **Reply #78 on:** May 28, 2007, 05:53:49 pm »

Sunfish is a different species actually ... moonfishes are usually way way smaller .. it's off course family though.

Check this link for more sunfishes:

http://www.waterworxbali.com/mola-mola-gallery.shtml

xander · « **Reply #79 on:** May 28, 2007, 06:15:35 pm »

So, this is one of the strangest underwater creatures that I have seen. It has two tails, which oscillate up and down in order to propel the creature forward. They have two fins, though they are largely useless for propulsion, and are almost entirely used for grasping various objects. Most examples of this genus have two layers of skin. Water or air is trapped between the layers in order to insulate them. They also have a strange, transparent membrane over their eyes, which holds a pocket of air. These creatures cannot actually extract oxygen from the water, but they have odd organs which hold various breathable gases under high pressure. They must return to the surface from time to time to refill these organs. Finally, many examples of these creatures posses the ability to produce light, using some kind of electro-chemical process. The function of these lights is unknown.

xander

Toom · « **Reply #80 on:** May 29, 2007, 08:25:56 pm »

I was reading about angler fish at work today; they have the most incredibly messed-up reproductive system I've ever seen. Male angler fish have no digestive system. When they're born, they have to track down a female and bite it in the side; it then proceeds to vomit some heinous enzymes that cause its head to fuse to the bitten lady-fish, allowing it to sustain itself. Its body then withers away until it's basically nothing but a set of fish nuts, pumping fish jizz into the fish lady when it detects certain hormonal triggers. NATURE!

Derek · « **Reply #81 on:** May 30, 2007, 06:14:42 am »

Quote from: Toom on May 29, 2007, 08:25:56 pm

I was reading about angler fish at work today; they have the most incredibly messed-up reproductive system I've ever seen. Male angler fish have no digestive system. When they're born, they have to track down a female and bite it in the side; it then proceeds to vomit some heinous enzymes that cause its head to fuse to the bitten lady-fish, allowing it to sustain itself. Its body then withers away until it's basically nothing but a set of fish nuts, pumping fish jizz into the fish lady when it detects certain hormonal triggers. NATURE!

Life is beautiful!

Zam · « **Reply #82 on:** May 30, 2007, 07:35:56 am »

Okay, we've had some good, typical monster fishes. Weird fish, cool fish, freaky fish, photoshopped fish.

But, we haven't seen anything... well... Bad

Until now.

Ladys and Gentlefish, I now introduce you to...

The Mantis Shrimp

Lemme show you how agressive these things are.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EEMeVSQWw0 (There are tons of movies about these)

Now, I know that looks like a typical, elite mother nature fight....

There's one way to explain just how powerful these 11 inch shirmp are.

"Around 400 species of mantis shrimp have currently been described worldwide, which are commonly separated into two distinct groups determined by the manner of claws they possess:

Squilla mantis, showing the spearing appendages
Spearers are armed with spiny appendages topped with barbed tips, used to stab and snag prey and some have a blunt, calcified club on the elbow.

Smashers, on the other hand, possess a much more developed club and a more rudimentary spear (which is nevertheless quite sharp and still used in fights between their own kind); the club is used to bludgeon and smash their meals apart. The inner aspect of the dactyl (the terminal portion of the appendage) can also possess a sharp edge, with which the animal can cut prey while it swims.
Both types strike by rapidly unfolding and swinging their raptorial claws at the prey, and are capable of inflicting serious damage on victims significantly greater in size than themselves.

In smashers, these two weapons are employed with blinding quickness, with an acceleration of 10,400 g and speeds of 23 m/s from a standing start. Because they strike so rapidly, they generate cavitation bubbles between the appendage and the striking surface. The collapse of these cavitation bubbles produce measurable forces on their prey in addition to the instantaneous forces of 1,500 N that are caused by the impact of the appendage against the striking surface, which means that the prey is hit twice by a single strike; first by the claw and then by the even bigger force from the collapsing cavitation bubbles that immediately follows. Even if the initial strike misses the prey, the resulting shock wave can be enough to kill or stun the prey.

.Some pet mantis shrimp have managed to break through their double-paned aquarium glass with a single strike from this weapon.

Many saltwater aquarists are currently caring for stomatopods across the world. In fact, some are even making vital discoveries of the behavior of certain species as well as defining certain aspects of others. These dedicated aquarists may play a major role in understanding the many mysteries involving the mantis shrimp. However, mantis shrimp are considered by many domestic marine aquarists as pests. They can often sneak into a tank hidden in rocks, and once there, they can feed on fish, corals, and smaller crustaceans. They are notoriously difficult to catch once established in a well stocked tank."

Wikipedia.

I happened upon a topic about these little buggers... There is some grand storytelling there. Probally embellished, but even so, these are some pretty awesone shrimp. (If only more people called me "shrimp")

*posted before, but briefly

xander · « **Reply #83 on:** May 30, 2007, 04:39:01 pm »

Man, that thing just looks mean.

xander

Cobar · « **Reply #84 on:** June 05, 2007, 10:36:27 pm »

man... that was a serious CRAB BATTLE!!!

Even better than this

shinygerbil · « **Reply #85 on:** June 08, 2007, 12:27:41 am »

I really felt sorry for that poor lil' crab. Did you see it trying to push itself away at the end?

Cobar · « **Reply #86 on:** June 08, 2007, 09:20:28 am »

I present thee the Pistol Shrimp!

The snapping shrimp competes with much larger animals, like the sperm whale and beluga whale, for the title of 'loudest animal in the sea'. The shrimp snaps a specialized claw shut to create a cavitation wave that generates acoustic pressures of up to 80 kPa at a distance of 4 cm from the claw. The pressure wave is strong enough to kill small fish.

The snap can also produce sonoluminescence from a collapsing bubble, also known as a cavitation bubble. As it collapses, the cavitation bubble reaches the surface temperature of the Sun.

Snapping shrimp have also been noted for their ability to reverse claws. When the snapping claw is lost, the missing limb will regenerate into a smaller claw and the original small claw will grow into a new snapping claw. Laboratory research has shown that severing the nerve of the snapping claw induces the conversion of the small claw, resulting in a shrimp with two large claws.

Nature pwns.

Vysedark · « **Reply #87 on:** June 14, 2007, 04:50:41 pm »

From seeing all of these images of weird looking fish, I can say that fact is most certainly stranger than fiction. We humans would have never believed such strange and fascinating creatures lived on our planet if we had never searched for them. Our world still hold many undiscovered creature yet to be discovered.

Toom · « **Reply #88 on:** June 26, 2007, 01:44:09 am »

Epaulette shark! These monsters walk around on the ocean floor using their fins, which is pretty cool, but my favourite thing about them is that, in low-oxygen environments, they can increase their survivability by shutting off parts of their brains that they don't currently need. That is awesome!

Ooooooh shiiiiiiiiiit giant isopods! Essentially three-pound woodlice that live in deep deep ocean and scavenge dead stuff for dinners, and further proof that the oceans are full of demons.

Edit: whoops, I completely forgot that Skibs mentioned isopods on the very first page!

Toom · « **Reply #89 on:** June 26, 2007, 01:47:57 am »

Shiiiiiit!

Oooooh shiiiiit noooooooo!

Oooohhhh shiiiiiiiit!