#translucent animals

[thecreatureawaits]

Creature Awaits #230

Each week I plan to feature an amazing creature, admiring God's fantastic artistry. Hopefully it’ll brighten someone’s day to see something new and interesting if they haven’t seen it before. : )

Continuing our October series.. "Cute…but Deadly" : )

(An awesome capture by Eric Polk (CC BY-SA 4.0 Deed))

The Bloody-belly Comb Jelly

Scientific Name: Lampocteis cruentiventer

Region: The Northern Pacific Ocean, usually between about 820'-4,921' (~250m-1,500m) deep

Size: About 6" (~16cm) long

Interesting Notes: As a comb jelly, this bizarrely beautiful creature doesn't move like a true jellyfish, but propels itself by rhythmically waving rows of hair-like cilia. Being totally translucent, its stomach's deep red color - one of the hardest colors to see at this ocean depth - stealthily keeps predators from spotting any bioluminescent meals still digesting within its stomach. Like its fellow comb jellies, instead of stinging its prey, it produces an extremely sticky, glue-like substance that holds its prey captive as it's slowly dragged into its mouth.

[thecreatureawaits]

The Creature Awaits #86:

Each week I plan to feature an amazing creature, admiring God's fantastic artistry.  Hopefully it’ll brighten someone’s day to see something new and interesting if they haven’t seen it before. : )

(Photographs by amazing photographers Brian Gratwicke (upper), Dave Huth (center), and Seánín Óg (John P. Clare - lower) (CC BY-NC 2.0))

Glass Frogs

Scientific Name: Various frogs within the family Centrolenidae

Region: Select Regions of Central and South America

Size: Usually only up to 3" (7.5cm) long

Interesting Note:  Frogs in the family Centrolenidae are commonly referred to as "Glass Frogs" as they all have clear, glass-like skin on their abdomen and legs.  Scientists were originally baffled as to how clear stomachs and legs would work as effective camouflage when their back was still opaque until realizing that the clear legs softens the frog's silhouette on the leaves, creating a sort of artificial gradient from the leaf's color to their back's markings.  This optical illusion turned out to be more than enough to hide them from most birds seeking a snack.

[thecreatureawaits]

Creature Awaits #241

Each week I plan to feature an amazing creature, admiring God's fantastic artistry. Hopefully it’ll brighten someone’s day to see something new and interesting if they haven’t seen it before. : )

(Beautiful photograph taken by WestPark (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Deed))

Buoy Barnacles

Scientific Name: Dosima fascicularis

Region: Temperate waters across the Atlantic and Pacific

Size: About a .47"-.78" (~1.2cm-2cm) long shell portion

Interesting Notes: If unable to find a suitable floating surface to attach itself to, this delicate and unique barnacle secretes a gas-filled cement, creating its own natural float. It is the only known barnacle to do this. This structure is the pale yellow shape, similar in appearance to expanding foam, visible at left in the photo above. (Hopefully the little guys pictured found their way back to the sea after this photograph was taken! : ) )

[uroft-blog]

10 Clear Animals That Are Laborious To Imagine Really Exist

10 Clear Animals That Are Laborious To Imagine Really Exist

Take a look at these animals, though you may should look carefully. Why? As a result of they’re invisible! Nicely okay, perhaps not, however they’re clear. Wish to know why most of the animals featured beneath are sea-dwelling creatures? The reply is all about self-preservation. As identified by Scientific American’s Sönke Johnsen, “virtually all open ocean animals not in any other case…

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[alxndrasplace]

(National Geographic via SeaPics)  Translucent Marine Animals

Hydromedusa

In the dark waters near the Pacific Ocean seafloor a hydromedusa waves enough tentacles to appear rather like its ancient Greek namesake, Medusa. Medusae, which bud asexually from bottom-dwelling polyps, are just one stage of this jellyfish’s life cycle. Males and females release sperm and eggs, which spawn freely in seawater and form new polyps to begin the cycle again.

[talesofdrunkennessandcruelty]

Translucent Marine Animals

[dendriforming]

cempa's post prompted me to look up larval cowfish. Which resulted in finding this. Which is just one image out of an entire gallery of shiny translucent sea creature images available here.