Enypniastes

Hey guys,welcome back!
So this next creature has been called alot of names,
the best name by far is "The Headless Chicken Fish"
want to know why?

there you go! the one on the left is an actual headless chicken..while the one on the right is our special creature, the

Enypniastes

What we have here is one of the weirdest sea creatures the sea has to offer.
But what is it,really? A jellyfish? And oh my,are those its guts?
Although we have this habit of subconsciously calling everything that swims a fish, this fascinating creature is actually a sea cucumber,one that can fly,or rather, swim.
And yes,those are its guts. The opening at the top is its mouth,surrounded by tentacles used to grab mud on the sea floor. The mud goes through the only thing visible,the gut, and through an opening at the rear.

For most sea cucumbers, the anus is an all-important organ, also known as
a "cloaca", which means it's a multi-purpose opening. Most vertebrates have one for excretion, egestion and reproduction - we mammals are actually quite odd for the division of labour we employ. But Sea Cucumbers also breathe through it! When we humans pass air through the posterior aperture people laugh, frown or say "whoever smelt it, dealt it". For Sea Cucumbers it's just normal breathing. So,if you're getting curious about all this anus talk,check out the Sea Cucumber post.

These odd fellows certainly can swim. They do so very slowly by flapping that vampiric cape of theirs. It's slow going, but it all looks rather tranquil and graceful. Looking closely, it appears that as the cape strikes the rest of the body, their flesh wobbles like so much flab. I presume they have soft bodies to deal with the immense, deep sea pressures. Regardless, this is probably the most attractive any Sea Cucumber is ever gonna get!

These creatures have been found widely spread,all over the world,as a matter of fact. However,there is nothing to be afraid of,since they live far,far away from dry land. They live in depths between 500 and 5,000 metres (1,640-16,400 ft), and can swim up to 1,000m (3,280 ft) above the ocean floor.

 Being able to swim really make them the 'white sheep' of the sea cucumber family. But there's something else they can do. Something reassuringly disgusting. Something totally Sea Cucumber.

When threatened, they bioluminesce.If it's a light touch, just a small part lights up, though this can slowly spread across the whole animal. If it gets touched too much the whole thing will quickly light up, revealing not only its own position, but also the position of its assailant to any predators who may be in the area.

But that's not all...

For one, the bioluminesce particles stick to the predators, lighting them up as bright as a Christmas tree for all to see. The bioluminesce particles are actually part of our creature's skin. A good enough sacrifice in exchange for its live. When the particles detach from our creature's skin and stick to the predator, our creature is once more cloaked in darkness and free to recover.

check out this video to see what I mean:

WARNING! DO NOT TOUCH!

references:
 http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract;jsessionid=6D37D0260713B4DE520F5DC904C6B431.journals?fromPage=online&aid=4372620

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/enypniastes-eximia

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/blueplanet/factfiles/starfish_urchins/swimming_sea_cucumber_bg.shtml

http://blamoscience.tumblr.com/post/22668496406/this-sea-dwelling-sea-cucumber-enypniastes

Macropinna microstoma

Hey guys,how's it going?
This week's fish is ultra cool, and  personally, it makes me wonder if it came from alien origin!
So,introducing..the BARRELEYE FISH.

The barreleye fish,also known as the  spookfish,lives from about 400m - 2500m deep into the ocean. They have been found in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The barreleye fish is believed to consume mostly jellyfishes and small zooplankton such as hydroids, copepods and other pelagic crustaceans

What you might first mistake as its eyes (just above the small mouth) are actually the fish's olfactory organs, also known as nostrils. Believe it or not, the fish's eyes are the green tubular objects that are pointing upward from within the transparent dome of the fish's head.

 Living at depths where sunlight from the surface fades to almost complete darkness, their tubular eyes are excellent at collecting light, allowing them to to search for faint silhouettes of prey overhead. While it was initially believed that their eyes were fixed in an upward position; that would have made it near impossible to actually eat they prey with no ability to see forward.

But you see guys, when living in the deep sea, being translucent is not unusual. Having tubular eyes are not new, either. So what qualifies this fish to be crazy weird is the fact that its eyes can actually rotate to whichever angle it wants!

"Using MBARI’s remote operate vehicles Robison and Reisenbichler were able to view the barreleyes in the ocean between 600 and 800m.  The found that the eyes of Macropinna can rotate within transparent shield that covers the fish’s head, allowing it to look at whatever it wants.  This transparent, fluid-filled shield that covers the top of the fish’s head was unknown to science, i.e. existing descriptions and illustrations do no show it.  Likely, when previous specimens were caught in deep-sea trawls there were damaged or lost."

- http://deepseanews.com/2009/02/scientists-solve-the-mystery-of-why-this-fish-is-so-freakin-crazy/

Its eyes are like the most awesome periscope ever! In the deep, most animals hunt by looking up. They take advantage of what little surface light is available to spot a silhouette of something above. Having rotating eyes to see food above, then see it when it's near the mouth is a great adaptation.

But the awesomeness does not stop here. Apart from the amazing "headgear", barreleyes have a variety of other interesting adaptations to deep-sea life. Their large, flat fins allow them to remain nearly motionless in the water, and to maneuver very precisely . Their small mouths suggest that they can be very precise and selective in capturing small prey. 

Also, depending on what species you are looking at, they might have scales or not. Their fins are mostly spineless (seriously, check out the crystalline fins on the dried out specimen above). They have gizzards like birds, and some of their organs even glow in the dark thanks to bioluminescent bacteria. They even have some 'mirror lighting,' which is like countershading on crack. There is much more to these fishes than meets the eye, but the eyes are what everybody focuses on.

mbari.org

http://www.whaletimes.org/Barreleyefish.htm

 Do enjoy this video to know more :

reference:  http://twistedsifter.com/2012/09/barreleye-fish-with-transparent-head/