Oceans 4Ever

FFFToday’s FFF is a guest post by the multi-talented science journalist Allie Wilkinson, owner of the blog OH, for the Love of Science! We’ve already got chills and thrills over her Ratfish – check it out, with pics and a video, and see what you think! Enjoy.

Spotted ratfish are unlike anything you have ever seen before. 

They have smooth, scaleless skin that is silvery-bronze in color, with sparkling shades of gold, blue, green, or a pinky-purple sort of color, and are speckled with white spots.  Their tail is almost half of their body length and looks like a rat’s tail, which is how they get their name. 

They have a long venomous spine in front of the dorsal fin, and their pectoral fins are big triangles, that go straight out from the body and look like airplane wings.  On their cute rabbit-like faces, they have large emerald green eyes that are able to reflect light, similarly to the eyes of a cat.  Oh, and they have an extra sexual organ in the middle of their forehead, like a horn on a unicorn, which they use to hold onto the female’s dorsal fin during mating.  Is that freaky enough for you?

Spotted ratfish are among the deepest living fishes, ranging from depths of 0 to 3,000 feet below sea level.  They are related to sharks and rays, and are considered to be the missing link between the bony and cartilaginous fishes because they have characteristics of both.

Ratfish flap their large wing-like pectoral fins to move, which makes them look incredibly graceful.  Normally, they glide over the seafloor in search for crunchy foods like crabs and clams.  But when I took care of these little guys at the Florida Aquarium, we would feed them shrimp.  Feeding the ratfish was always one of my favorite parts of the day, because they turned into graceful little ballerinas at feeding time.  Imagine water ballet, with all of  its synchronized swimmers.  Well, when I would feed the ratfish, they would swim up to the surface, and bring the tops of their bodies out of the water, twirling around, as if they were dancing.

I’ve been to a LOT of aquariums around the world (about 18 or so!) and the Florida Aquarium is the only one that I’ve been to that has these little guys.  I’m glad they do, because I probably wouldn’t have ever found out about such a cool, cute, weird, and freaky little fish otherwise.  If you get a chance to ever see them in person, make sure you do!

~Allie

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Hi, Ocean Lovers!

Happy 100th birthday, Jacques Cousteau! Today’s FFF is a crazy being we are sure Captain Cousteau would be fascinated by if he were here today. (Have you seen the Google homepage today?)

I’d like to introduce you to…THE SEA PIG! I’ve been waiting for weeks to post on this creature, so here goes:

The Sea Pig, aka Scotoplanes globosa, does indeed look pretty globby. It’s actually kind of cute, and it’s a member of the sea cucumber family.

Sea cucumbers are called echinoderms, and include starfish and sea urchins, too. Overall, there are about 1,250 species of sea cucumbers. And you guessed it – many of them have soft bodies and actually look a bit like cucumbers. Sometimes a small group of these cucumbers are collectively called Sea Pigs.

Some Sea Pigs live in shallow waters, while some live deep down, at the bottom of abysses. Scotoplanes globosa is one such deep dweller, living almost four miles under the ocean’s surface.

Scientists don’t know much about these creatures, but when they do encounter them, it tends to be in a group. They eat a microscopic diet of detritus, which they scoop up in their big mouths.

Sea Pigs have been studied recently in the Southern Ocean off of Antarctica, where they live in more shallow waters. What’s really crazy that scientists have found is that parasites like snails can somehow grow inside a Sea Pig’s body! 

Check out the below slideshow, and also Echinoblog for more creepy and kinda cute Sea Pig pics!

What do you think – creepy, awesome, or cute?

Have a great summer weekend and hope you are enjoying your World Oceans Day week!

~Alexa

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Today’s freakiness brings you closer to one of the past stars of this video, brought to you by a very special guest.

Casey Sokolovic, our friend and singular sea turtle champion (get the scoop on Casey and her efforts here), has the lowdown on this amazing and perplexing creepy fish.

Brrrrrr!!!

Are You Ready to Dive In?

The Icefish can survive sub-zero water temperatures due to a special antifreeze glycoprotein in its blood and body fluids. Can you imagine freezing all the time?

If you’d like to give this fish the cold shoulder, then head to the continental shelf waters surrounding Antarctica.

What baffles the scientists about these “cold-blooded” fish? They can’t figure out how the Icefish can live at both ends of the earth – which are separated by thousands of miles of warm waters.

Icefish have been found in the Arctic as well as the Antartic and new species are still being found.

I’ll never see one of these fish, as their natural habitat is WAY too cold for me!

~Casey

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