Tthe angular rough shar (Oxynotus centrina) is suitably named for its pointed head and fins, and the rough teeth-like scales, known as ‘denticles’, which cover its body. The angular rough shark has a broad, flattened head, a short, blunt nose and two tall, sail-like dorsal fins.
Photo credit: Joanna Franke
Rare footage of an Oarfish in the Wild
Video — Via DeepSeaNewsOf all bony fish, the oarfish, Regalecus glesne, is the longest. It is suggested that oarfish can reach up to 15 meters (49 feet) in length but actual recorded lengths put them at still impressive 8 meters (26 feet). Oarfish will often was ashore or caught by fishermen. Yet, much like the giant squid, observations of oarfish alive in the wild are rare and video of them alive in the wild are even rarer. Until now.
The monkeylike face of a goby fish peers out from the center of a coral labyrinth. The fish depends on the coral for its home, and, in turn, often cleans smothering algae from the coral. This image was accepted into the Art of Science 2013 competition at Princeton University.
Photo: Chhaya Werner, Princeton Univ. Art of Science Competition
(via: Live Science)
A tiny yellow goby living inside an abandoned soda can in Suruga Bay, Japan. Photograph: Brian Skerry
“Fish vertebrae – unlike mammalian bones – grow in a layered manner, much like tree rings. Isotopic analysis of the layers can tell us about the environment, growth patterns and behaviour of the fish across their entire lifespan. This vertebra is from a cod that was 95 centimetres in length, hence the size and clarity of the rings, and has been used for carbon and nitrogen isotopic analysis.”
via Cambridge University’s Bluesci
Mekong Giant Catfish
A Cambodian man observes this giant fish, weighing 500 pounds, in the Tonle Sap River. It was later released back into the river.
Chinese Paddlefish
These fish are a contender to being the biggest freshwater fish in the world, reports up to 23 feet have been recorded. They are also critically endangered due to over fishing and dam reconstruction. Reportedly none have been seen in the wild since 2003 and scientists fear they are already extinct.
Come on, evolution, you cannot be serious with this sh—
Oh, wait. OH. Ha! I get it. Clearly the red-lipped batfish is a work of satire, not meant to be taken as a literal “animal,” which would of course be ridiculous. Sorry, I can be a bit slow sometimes. Nice one.
A parasitic louse that crawls into your mouth, vampirizes your tongue, then clamps itself onto the withered stub so it can ride around inside you and drink your mucus for the rest of your mutual lives? Why, yes. It’s called symbiosis and it’s beautiful.
What? Relax. It’s going to be fine. This isn’t going to hurt. You won’t even miss your tongue—once the louse is latched onto the muscle, you can simply use its body as a tongue instead. These are exactly the kind of details that evolution has worked out for you, because evolution loves you and it wants you to be all right.
Deep-sea white anglerfish show a very pronounced sexual dimorphism. With dwarfish males that are fifteen to thirty times as numerous as the females,their first difficulty is in finding the rare females in the expanses of the deep. Once the males attach onto the female, their only role is to transfer sperm and eventually dissolve.
