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Text丨No. 7
Editor丨Seven
In 2015, a wildlife photographer captured a seal in the ocean eating a sunfish, in which the sunfish not only did not fight back in the face of the seal's attack, but also showed no signs of escape.
In addition to seals, there are other creatures in the ocean that attack sunfish, but sunfish are always slow to swallow and rarely fight back.
So, sunfish have no ability to fight back at all, how on earth did they grow up in a "strong predator" environment?
The lazy strong: the ancient and mysterious sunfish
The sunfish is a strange sea creature with its unique size and behavior, and there are many untold survival stories behind it.
Its extremely asymmetrical body shape, huge head, small body, and even no tail doomed it to swim slowly, and it is subject to the survival of the fittest marine ecology.
But it has survived for 45 million years thanks to the survival wisdom passed down from its ancestors.
Their head occupies most of the body, such a structure makes its surface aggressive, it is difficult for natural predators to find its weak spots, and the toxins in its mouth can kill parasites inside and outside the body, playing a role in self-protection.
The strange-looking sunfish actually hides secrets, using its seemingly weak appearance to confuse its natural enemies, and repeatedly escapes death by relying on its unique way of survival.
It is worth mentioning that the sunfish likes to roll over and float on the surface of the sea, enjoying the sun motionlessly, and we are used to thinking that it is "rotten", but this behavior of staying on the surface of the sea to absorb solar energy has brought it unexpected benefits.
And the special toxins in their mouths produce unique medical value when exposed to sunlight, which can treat diseases such as muscle atrophy and Parkinson's.
At the same time, it is easy to be spotted by predators when lying on the surface of the sea, but at this time, its huge body becomes a protective umbrella to protect vital organs from attack.
The lazy appearance is the sunfish's clever way of survival, it obtains the maximum survival benefit at the minimum cost, and repeatedly saves the day in the face of adversity.
The sunfish's "rotten" behavior may seem lazy and useless, but it is actually a means of self-protection, this sea creature does not have a hard shell as armor, nor does it have claws and fangs to arm itself, and it can only use this seemingly lazy way to avoid enemy hunts.
A long history of overfishing of sunfish due to misconceptions, combined with marine pollution, has led to a dramatic decline in the number of sunfish.
In fact, this ancient and mysterious marine creature is not a threat to humans, but contains great scientific research value.
We should cherish the miracle of life on Earth, protect the natural habitat of the sunfish, limit their catch, and allow this animal with a unique survival intelligence to thrive.
When we protect the sunfish, we also regain our awe for nature, and the rare disease resistance and ancient genetic code of the sunfish may provide a new breakthrough in human medicine.
The existence of every species has its unique meaning, every life deserves to be respected, and the protection of sunfish is the protection of the gifts given to us by nature.
Let's work together to maintain the ecological balance of the oceans and protect the last habitat of this ancient species, and perhaps one day, humanity will be reborn from the sunfish, and our efforts to protect the sunfish will surely pay off.
Sunfish: Intelligent creatures that orbit the ocean
After a long period of natural selection and evolution, the sunfish has developed a unique set of survival strategies that have allowed it to survive in the highly competitive living space of the ocean to this day.
It has unusually thick skin, which is 2-3 times thicker than most fish, and some individuals can reach up to 5 centimeters, making it extremely difficult for sunfish to be bitten by predators.
When attacked by predators like sea lions, sunfish rely on this layer of skin to protect vital organs, and even if a large piece of meat is bitten off, it will not cause fatal damage.
In this way, it is difficult for natural predators to swallow the sunfish, and they can only eat its surface meat, but even if it loses a lot of body surface tissue, the sunfish can still survive with its strong self-healing ability.
At the same time, it is rich in a special collagen that promotes wound healing, which can quickly fill wounds and accelerate the regeneration of damaged tissues.
In addition, the commensal microorganisms on the skin of the sunfish can also secrete specific enzymes to digest dead necrotic tissue and prevent the spread of infection.
Even when other fish are injured, they will actively approach the sunfish and take advantage of the therapeutic benefits of this "marine doctor", which is why the sunfish can recover even if it is badly damaged.
It is important to know that the sunfish is an excellent deep-sea diver, although it swims slowly at the surface of the sea at a speed of 0.4-0.7 m/s, but can dive to a depth of 800 meters to feed.
This is already more than the maximum operating depth of the most advanced nuclear submarine in the United States, and the high pressure of the deep sea is not a problem for the sunfish, so that it can find an adequate source of food on the bottom of the sea.
It is difficult for most predators to dive at such depths, which also allows sunfish to avoid threats from them.
They also have excellent pressure regulation and can float between the surface and the bottom of the sea, and their blood contains a high amount of immunoglobulins, as well as a high density of red blood cells, which improve the viscosity of the blood and help the sunfish resist the physiological shocks caused by different water pressures.
During its long life of up to 20 years, the sunfish needs to undergo frequent pressure regulation, which is also an important guarantee for its survival.
On top of that, the sunfish is extremely reproductive, with a female sunfish containing up to 3 billion eggs, making it the most fertile of any vertebrate animal.
Even if the survival rate is low, the emergence of a large number of offspring is enough to sustain the population, and it is with these unique survival skills that the sunfish has been able to survive the cruel competition of the ocean to this day, becoming a unique miracle of life on Earth.
Even its fecundity is so strong that multiple subgenera have formed within its family, which makes the sunfish gene pool unusually rich, and there are subtle genetic differences between the different subgenera, which provide the sunfish population with genetic diversity to withstand disease and environmental stresses.
When a catastrophic blow to one subgenus, individuals of other subgenera may have genetic mutations that adapt to changes in the environment, and this diversity undoubtedly increases the survival probability of the entire sunfish family.
Because of this, despite the fragility of the individual, the sunfish, as a species, has an amazing ability to withstand stress and vitality.