Who is the top "master of disguise" in the ocean

What magical creatures have we found in the aquarium this year? These "masters of disguise" I am talking about today, I don't know if you have found anything in the aquarium you have been to, or maybe they have crossed the sea in secret and successfully evaded your observation?

The ocean is not only a vast and profound home for life, but also a crowded battlefield of natural selection. Survival competition is fierce and brutal, but clever "liars" are often able to outperform reckless "fighters." Countless marine animals have thus transformed into genius actors, imitating their habitats and even other creatures in a variety of ways to hide themselves or deter powerful predators. Their performances are amazing.

Every day and night, every corner of the ocean, is active with the figure of countless animal camouflage masters. For the witty, life in the sea may be a masquerade ball that never ends.

(1) "Crocodile fish" Bordell's holefish

Because the shape of the head resembles a miniature version of the crocodile, the Bohellonet has the nickname of "crocodile fish".

Unfortunately, compared with the domineering real crocodile, the Bo's hole fish, which is only more than a foot long, is really "weak and explosive". Living in the Indo-Pacific oceans, they are always low-key hidden on rocky reefs or shallow sea bottoms. To better fool the searcher's eye, the Boswell catfish also boast near-perfect full-body camouflage — they are covered with scattered stripes and patches of color, and the body color can be changed accordingly according to the surrounding environment. Whether it is the big guys passing by, or the small fish and shrimp that are about to become prey, it is difficult to find the Bo's hole carp that is quietly lurking on the seabed.

The careful Borthurer did not even forget to disguise their large bulging eyes, and their eyes evolved a unique dendritic marking. With such a delicate camouflage, when they look up, the outline of the black iris is no longer too abrupt.

Concealment Index: ★★★ ☆☆

(2) The Four-Disc Ear Squid of The Bai's Four Plates that can "emit light and fade"

Only a few centimeters in size, the four-plated squid is one of the most beautiful cephalopods in the ocean. Their epidermis has countless pigment cells that can quickly change the color and size of spots all over the body, constantly changing the blue-green and purple color of hummingbird feathers, so it is often called hummingbird short-tailed squid.

Inactive during the day, The four-plated squid occasionally crawls on the sand of the seabed with their tentacles curled, and biologists speculate that they are pretending to be hermit crabs carrying snail shells. When night comes, the four-plated squid of The Bai's plate are floating up to forage, and they will stage a wonderful "glow extinction" show - with the help of the symbiotic glowing bacteria in the mantle membrane, they can emit a soft shimmer at night, just to eliminate the shadow cast by the body blocking the sky above. Those deep-water predators who look up from below are often deceived by the glowing camouflage of The Four-Platen Squid of The Bai's, and can only watch the "empty" sea above leave in disappointment.

(3) Fox fake tiger Wei's Li Qi

Also known as the Magnificent Tanabata Fish, the reed is probably the most avid "spotted suit lover" in the ocean. Their oval bodies, with their wide dorsal, ventral and caudal fins, are uniformly styled with white and light blue dots on a purple-black background. The few markings at the junction of the dorsal and caudal fins also subtly outline a lifelike false eye.

Li Yu is a cautious "rock hermit". They hide in the reef during the day and sneak out at dusk to feed. But whenever it perceives any wind and grass, it will plunge into the hollow of the reef, revealing only the back half of the body with eye spots, and also pose the dorsal, abdominal and tail fins at a specific angle, so that they look like a furious spotted naked eel, and are angrily protruding its head from the coral reef. Not wanting to deal with the predators of the ferocious moray eel, there is a good chance that they will retreat from the fox false tiger wei.

(4) Snouted single-spined pufferfish that confuse the enemy with their scent

Shaped like a flatted shuttle, its light blue body is dotted with eight rows of bright yellow spots, and it is known for its nickname of "corn cannonball" in the seawater ornamental fish world. They prefer to hide head-down between the branches of coral, with their fancy bodies almost blending in with the colorful corals. Even if the big fish with bad eyes look closely, most of them will not find a single-spined pufferfish that is only more than ten centimeters long.

In addition to excellent visual camouflage, the barramundi creates a unique chemical odor barrier. They feed mainly on polyps, and incidentally obtain the characteristic odorous substances of polyps. If the snouted single-spined puffer hides in the coral thickets, even the predator with the brightest nose will not want to sniff out them full of "shan qi". The chequester is so successful in camouflage that it is often harassed by coral reef crabs. The silly crabs who came looking for the taste must also be very confused: Is there still a royal law? I wanted to climb the coral branches, and actually "sneaked" downstream!

Concealment Index: ★★★★ ☆

(5) Offensive and defensive invisible: large spotted fish

The big spotted snake is the most strange of the fish, and they are not willing to swim in a regular manner, but instead waddle on the seabed with pectoral fins that resemble small short legs. The term "tosed fish" or "frogfish" describes them as living like a herd of crippled frogs in the sea.

The body of the large spotted fish is short and thick, irregular and knotty, and it is covered with messy markings. If the habitat changes, these markings will slowly become consistent with the new environment. The dignity of the large spotted fish can often frighten people, they resemble a sponge, a piece of coral, just do not look like a good bully and delicious fish, so the picky predators do not even bother to look at them.

In addition to its excellent stealth skills, the great spotted fish also has a more insidious camouflage technique. The top of their head evolved into a fin that swung much like a small fish swimming around. Once the tempted critter rushes closer, the long-awaited large spotted fish will suddenly burst out, opening its mouth more than ten times in a few milliseconds, and swallowing even heavier prey than itself in one bite!

(6) The ultimate mimetic Ye Hailong

Off the coasts of western and southern Australia, there are vibrant undersea algae forests dotted around. Relying on the animal kingdom's top camouflage skills, Australia's unique leaf sea dragon lives in these quiet underwater labyrinths.

Although the appearance is strange and elegant, Ye Hailong's camouflage strategy is very simple, that is, the head is mimicking seaweed one by one. Their bodies are slender and twisted, resembling a stalk of algae that is drifting with the waves. From their long mouths to their slender tails, a dozen leaf-like appendages cover their entire bodies. Whether in shape, texture or color, these appendages are no different from real seaweed leaves.

In order to make the seaweed mimic a little more realistic, the leaf sea dragon also evolved small and transparent fins, and their swimming speed was as slow as floating. Fortunately, their slow movements enhance the camouflage effect. How could a ferocious predator who happened to encounter a leaf sea dragon that seemed to be completely motionless, accustomed to sprinting and chasing, suspect that it was not the seaweed brought by an ocean current?

Concealment Index : ★★★★★

(7) "Versatile" mimetic octopus

The mimetic octopus is the smallest member of the family, but is the "most outstanding performing artist" in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. The flexible body of the mollusk, the pigment cells all over the body and the eight flexible brachiopods allow them to change their shape and body color at will, and complete all kinds of incredible transformation camouflage in an instant.

Drag the brachiopods behind you and flatten the body, it becomes a "flounder" lying on the seabed; quietly hovering in the seawater, stretching eight brachiopods to the surroundings, it can risk a lionfish full of stingers; stretching out a brachiopod to the front and back of the body, and then matching the brachiopods with black and white ring-shaped markings, is a highly venomous "sea snake" that is enough to make the snapper lose its fear...

Mimetic octopuses don't just scare predators with various mimetics. They will also act as courting sea crabs, trapping another crab to serve as their own lavish lunch. These clever little octopuses can almost imitate all living things on an improvted basis, regardless of body color, form and movement.

(According to Yangcheng Evening News)