A pink frogmouth lurks on the ocean floor
by Lia Barrett
(via rhamphotheca)
Frogfish (Antennarius sp.) by Samantha Craven
This ~15cm Frogfish was well disguised in frilly looking algae. We’d seen it snorkelling, but it was fricking awesome to spend time with it without feeling my lungs were going to burst. Unfortunately I was called away to look at a tiny (as yet unidentified) Seahorse. Life’s so hard sometimes.
Can anyone help ID it?
Longhorn Cowfish (Lactoria conuta) by Samantha Craven
These are silly fish. They swim by rapidly flapping their pectoral fins, so it looks like they are hovering. They go about their business looking for food (benthic algae, various microorganisms, foraminiferans) until they spot you and then they act like they’ve just spotted their ex. They awkwardly change direction, first one way, then the other, and then swim the hell away.
Giggle.
Spiny Waspfish (Ablabys macracanthus) by Samantha Craven
Like it’s almost-twin the Cockatoo Waspfish, the Spiny Waspfish sways side to side, as if a leaf in the surge. And it’s very good at it. I have mistaken many a leaf for these fish, and probably many of these fish for a leaf.
Starfish eating fish.
Native to the waters of Indonesia, the Psychedelic Frogfish has forward-facing eyes, a face with fleshy cheeks and chin that can flatten or elongate. It has pectoral fins adapted for walking along the sea floor, and a jet-propulsion system to enable swimming forward.
(via halfman-halfocean)
Cockatoo Waspfish (Ablabys taenianotus) by Samantha Craven
Also known as the Cockatoo Leaf-Fish, Roque Fish or Rouge Fish, this highly compressed fish is part of the scorpionfish family (Scorpaenidae). It mimics dead leaves in the water, and sways with water motion. It looks similar to the Spiny Waspfish (Albabys maracanthus) but has a higher number of dorsal spines.
Harlequin Ornate Ghost Pipefish (Solenostomus paradoxus) by Samantha Craven
The ornate ghost pipefish or harlequin ghost pipefish, Solenostomus paradoxus, is a pipefish of the family Solenostomidae. This pipefish has short skin filaments on its snout, body and fins with jagged edges. Anecdotal evidence suggests that all ghost pipefish settles as males and later, with proper environmental or social cues some change into females. They are frequently found hovering head down among crinoids (and are well camouflaged here) and soft corals and feed primarily on crustaceans.This is the male variation.
20 ft, 2000lb. Great white caught as bycatch in the Sea of Cortez.
When two fishermen off the coast of Mexico pulled up a nearly 2,000 pound, 20 foot long shark they were at first amazed. That quickly turned to, “what are we going to do?”
Grind TV reports the pair were fishing in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez on Sunday when they netted the giant, dead great white shark. Before they saw the beast, they had thought they were bringing up a great load of smaller fish. Not so. Grind TV has more on their thoughts and what they had to do next:
“We were amazed and immediately realized that we had a huge, dead, great white shark, and then we thought what are we going to do?,” Guadalupe, one of the fishermen, said in an interview with Pisces Sportfishing, which is located in the Baja California resort city of Cabo San Lucas. The other fisherman was named Baltazar.
The fishermen, whose skiff measures 22 feet and is powered by a 75-horsepower outboard, required an hour to tow the carcass two miles to the coast. About 50 people helped drag the behemoth onto dry sand. Milenio News reported the length of the fish to be six meters, or 19.8 feet.
From there Grind TV reports Pisces stating it is unclear what happened to the shark. Scientists were seeking out the giant in the hopes of obtaining samples.
Conger eels usually hide during the day and emerge at night to feed
