Fish monsters

June 11, 1910 was born Jacques Cousteau - the most famous ocean explorer and inventor of the aqualung. In honor of the birth of oceanography, to present you a selection of the most unusual inhabitants of the world's oceans, open with the help of his invention





1. Ambon scorpionfish (Eng. Ambon Scorpionfish, lat. Pteroidichthys amboinensis).



It opened in 1856. Easily identifiable by a huge "eyebrows" - specific build-up over the eyes. It knows how to change the color and shedding. Leads "guerrilla" hunt - masquerading on the bottom and waiting for prey. It is not uncommon and fairly well understood, but her extravagant appearance simply can not fail to note! (Roger Steene / Conservation International)

2. psychedelic fish-frog (Eng. Psychedelic Frogfish, lat. Histiophryne psychedelica).



It opened in 2009. Very unusual fish - tail fin is bent to one side, modified pectoral fins and look like paws of land animals. The head is large, wide-set eyes directed forward, like vertebrates, so the fish has a kind of "face." Color yellow or reddish fish with sinuous white-blue stripes, radiating in all directions from the eyes of blue. Unlike other fish that swim, this kind of moves like jumping, starting from the bottom of the pectoral fins and pushing water from the gill slits, creating reactive thrust. Fish tail curved to one side and can not directly guide the body, because it varies from side to side. Also fish can crawl on the bottom with the help of the pectoral fins, turning them both down. (David Hall / EOL Rapid Response Team)

3. rag-pickers (Eng. Leafy Seadragon, lat. Phycodurus eques).



It opened in 1865. The representatives of this species are remarkable by the fact that all their body and head covered with spikes, simulating thallus algae. Although these processes and are similar to the fins at sea, they do not participate, serve to disguise (as in the hunt for shrimp and for protection from enemies). It lives in the waters of the Indian Ocean surrounding the southern, southeastern and southwestern Australia, as well as northern and eastern Tasmania. It feeds on plankton, small shrimp, seaweed. Without teeth, swallow food whole rag-picker. (lecates / Flickr)

4. Luna Fish (Eng. Ocean Sunfish, lat. Mola mola).



It opened in 1758. Laterally compressed body is extremely high and short, which gives the fish a very strange sight: it resembles a disc. The tail is very short, broad and truncated; dorsal, caudal and anal fins are interconnected. The skin of fish-moon is thick and elastic, covered with small bony tubercles. You can often see the moon-fish lying on its side in the water. Adult amusement fish - very bad swimmer, unable to overcome a strong current. It feeds on plankton and squid, eel larvae, salps, jellyfish and ctenophores. It can reach huge sizes of a few tens of meters and weighing 1, 5 tons. (Franco Banfi)

5. chimera of New World (Eng. Broadnose chimaera, lat. Rhinochimaera atlantica).



It opened in 1909. It is disgusting to look at jelly fish. It lives deep in the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean and feeds on clams. I studied very poorly. (Jay Burnett, NOAA / NMFS / NEFSC)

6. Plaschenosets (Eng. Frilled Shark, lat. Chlamydoselachus anguineus).



It opened in 1884. These sharks looks much more like a strange sea snake or eel than his closest relatives. In frilled shark gill openings, of which there are six on each side, covered with skin folds. In this membrane the first gill slit the throat of fish and cross are interconnected, forming a broad blade skin. Along with the goblin shark it is one of the rarest sharks on the planet. We know no more than a hundred copies of these fish. They studied very poorly. (Awashima Marine Park / Getty Images)

7. Indonesian Coelacanth (Eng. Indonesian Coelacanth, lat. Latimeria menadoensis).



It opened in 1999. Living fossil, and probably the oldest fish in the world. Before opening the first representative squad tselikantov, which include coelacanth, he was considered completely extinct. Time divergence of the two species of modern coelacanth is 30-40 million years. In the living form caught no more than a dozen. (Pearson - Benjamin Cummings)

8. Tons angler (Eng. Hairy Angler, lat. Caulophryne polynema).



It opened in 1930. Very strange and scary fish that live on the bottom of the deep, where there is no sunlight - between 1 km and deeper. To lure the inhabitants of the deep sea using special glowing growth on the forehead, which is characteristic around the squad anglerfish. Due to the special metabolism and very sharp teeth, he can have everything that comes, even if the victim several times more and also a predator. Propagated by no less strange than it looks and eats - because of unusually harsh conditions and scarcity of fish, male (ten times less than for the female) is attached to the flesh of his chosen and passes through all the necessary blood. (BBC)

9. Fish-drop (Eng. Blobfish, lat. Psychrolutes marcidus).



It opened in 1926. Often it is mistaken for a joke. In fact, it is quite real kind of deep-sea benthic fish family psihrolyutovyh that on the surface become "jelly" look to "a sad expression." Poorly understood, but it is enough to recognize it as one of the most bizarre. In the photo - a copy of the Australian Museum. (Kerryn Parkinson / Australian Museum)

10. Macropinna Microstoma (Eng., Lat. Macropinna microstoma) - winner of quirkiness.



It opened in 1939. It lives at a very great depth, so little studied. In particular, it is not obvious was the principle of the fish. I believe that it should feel very great difficulties due to the fact that she only sees up. Only in 2009 was fully investigated the structure of the eye of the fish. Apparently, when trying to examine it before the fish just could not stand the pressure change. The most notable feature of this type is a transparent dome-shaped shell that covers her head on top and sides, and a large, usually upward, eyes cylindrical shape that are under this envelope. Thick and flexible jacket covering is attached to the back of the scales back and on the sides - a broad and transparent periocular bones that protect your eyes. This coating structure is normally lost (or at least greatly damaged) when the rise of fishes on the surface of the trawl and networks, however, until recently, its existence has not been known. By covering the shell is filled with a clear liquid chamber in which, in fact, are the eyes of a fish; eyes live fish painted in a bright green color and separated by a thin wall of bone, which, extending back expands and holds the brain. In front of each eye, but behind the mouth, there is a large round pocket that contains olfactory receptor socket. That is something that at first glance the photos of live fish eyes seem, is actually olfactory organ. The green color is caused by the presence of a specific yellow pigment. It is believed that this pigment provides a special filtering light coming from above, and reduces the brightness that allows the fish to distinguish bioluminescence potential prey. (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)