Some interesting facts about the inhabitants of the underwater world (20 photos). The most unusual sea creatures Marine life and interesting facts about them
1. A starfish can turn its stomach inside out. This is how she digests prey - outside the body.
2. Flying fish rise above the water to escape from albacore - fish from the category of tuna. However, it is not safe for fish at the top - frigates are waiting for them here.
3. Swordfish can reach speeds of up to 130 km/h in water. It is the fastest fish in the ocean and in the whole world.
4. In catfish, taste buds are located throughout the body. But not only that, these receptors in catfish are 25-50 times more than in humans!
5. Each baby dolphin has its own name. The dolphin responds to the same signal from its parents.
6. Narwhal - long-horned arctic dolphin. The narwhal is often referred to as the unicorn dolphin. But, despite the intimidating appearance, he never attacks a person at all (at least not the first).
7. A fish called a bat has an amazing formation - thick bright red lips.
8. Surprisingly, mantis shrimp distinguish as many as 12 primary colors, tens of millions of their combinations, as well as infrared and ultraviolet radiation!
9. The black stomach is so elastic that it can swallow prey twice its size! In this case, the belly curves outward, and a small ball grows, as it were.
10. The largest squids live in the Southern Ocean (the ocean bordering Antarctica), their length is 10 meters, their weight is almost half a ton. Interestingly, their digestive system runs through the brain. But, despite its impressive size, it is not dangerous for humans, its food is plankton.
11. There are crabs whose claws are completely covered with fur. Because of their extremely bizarre appearance, they were nicknamed "yeti crabs".
12. Monkfish attract their prey with a small antenna on their forehead. Again, he does not attack a person first, despite the creepy name and awesome appearance.
13. The most poisonous fish is called "terrible wart". From one of her injections, you can die within 3 hours, if you do not apply the antidote. True, it all depends on the dose of poison administered.
14. The barnacle, or balanus, lives by attaching itself to solid objects. At birth, it looks like a water flea. First, he has 14 legs and 3 eyes, then 10 more legs grow, and the eyes atrophy.
15. Octopus Dumbo is named after the formations on its head, similar to the ears of an elephant from the Disney cartoon of the same name. It lives at a depth of 3-4 km, and is an extremely rare species.
16. Sea snails have as many as 25,000 microscopic teeth!
17. The Barreleye Fish can easily see its brain as its eyes look like 2 green hemispheres inside the head. She can rotate them in all directions.
18. During the mating season, the female sea worm bites off the tail of the male and eats it. The tail contains gametes, which reach the egg through the digestive tract and fertilize it.
19. Mudskipper can jump on land despite being a fish.
20. Baby bottlenose dolphins don't sleep at all until they are 1 month old. And even after that, they sleep with one eye open, since the hemispheres of their brains sleep in turn.
The seas and oceans are home to several million species of amazing creatures. Such a rich biological diversity is truly amazing, because under water you can find inhabitants of all colors, shapes and sizes. Some of them seem creepy and dangerous, while others delight in their beauty. In this collection you will find some of the most spectacular sea creatures. No depths of space can yet compare with what beauty is hidden in the depths of the Earth's oceans, and it's time to see it for yourself!
25. Tangerine fish
This colorful fish lives in the tropical waters of the western Pacific Ocean. Mandarin duck is a small elongated coral fish up to 6 cm long. This animal gained fame precisely for its rich color and unusual shape, which is why it is sometimes even called the “psychedelic mandarin”. It is very popular as an aquarium pet, but is extremely picky about keeping in captivity and often starves to death, refusing to eat store-bought food.
24. Ceriantharia 
Here is a coral polyp that lives in various parts of the world, mainly in subtropical waters. As a larva, Ceriantharia usually lives right inside the plankton, and, having matured, it prefers to dig into the ground and hunt with the help of a mouth end with many sensitive tentacles. This animal comes in a wide range of fluorescent colors and color combinations, making it a popular aquarium pet.
23. Flamingo tongue or thick cyphoma 
Photo: Laszlo Ilyes / flickr
Widespread on the reefs of the Caribbean and in the Atlantic Ocean, the flamingo tongue is a brightly colored mollusk that feeds on poisonous polyps. When the cyphoma absorbs the poison of its prey, it itself becomes toxic, but this does not threaten it with death.
22. Blue tan 
Photo: Tewy / wikimedia
One of the 70 varieties of surgeonfish, the blue tang lives in coastal waters, on coral reefs and among rocks or algae along coastlines from New York to Brazil, and is even found as far east as Ascension Island. The fish is famous for its spikes, which resemble a surgical scalpel, for which this species got its unusual name.
21. Mantis Shrimp 
Photo: prilfish / flickr
This crustacean lives in the warm waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans, and is rightfully considered one of the most attractive and colorful species of underwater animals. This shrimp has very unusual and extremely complex eyes. The mantis shrimp sees in the optical, ultraviolet and infrared spectrum, and is also able to convert polarized light, in which millions of light-sensitive cells help it.
20. French angelfish or angelfish 
Photo: Brain Gratwicke / flickr
The angelfish is found in the west of the Atlantic Ocean, in the Strait of Mexico and in the Caribbean Sea. This amazing tropical fish is easy to distinguish from other inhabitants of the underwater kingdom by its dark color with bright yellow stripes.
19. Leaf sea dragon or rag-picker seahorse 
Photo credit: lecates/flickr
This delightful creature is found in the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean off the Australian coastline. The favorite habitat of the leafy (sometimes leafy) sea dragon is coral reefs and shallow water, where it is warm enough, but not too hot, and there are all conditions for camouflage during hunting and to hide from predators. The ragpiper grows up to 20 cm in length, and is threatened with extinction due to industrial waste and poaching - it has become too popular among aquarium lovers.
18. Sea spider 
Sea spiders are in no way related to land spiders, and are a much simpler form of life. These small marine arthropods are found in almost all parts of the world and in most seas. In the world, they are almost as common as their terrestrial namesakes.
17. Medusa formosa or jellyfish "flower hat" 
Photo: Chris Favero / flickr
This animal is very similar to the common jellyfish, but in fact it belongs to the class of hydroid invertebrates, while the jellyfish belongs to the scyphoid cnidarians. Jellyfish "flower hat" is found in the western Pacific Ocean in the coastal waters of Japan. The beauty of Formosa is both captivating and dangerous, because it is better not to get to know it better, because this animal can sting very painfully.
16. Harlequin crab 
Photo: Bernard Dupont / flickr
The harlequin crab (Lissocarcinus laevis) caught our attention with its amazing coloration, and is most often found near the coral polyps of coastal areas or among the rocky reefs of the Indo-Pacific region. It is noteworthy that the last pair of legs has grown together into a single fin.
15. Banggai cardinal fish 
Photo: Bernard Dupont / flickr
This charming fish lives in warm tropical waters and is easily recognizable by its silver coloration with vertical black stripes. Unfortunately, the cardinal is an endangered species, and today its habitat has narrowed to the coastal waters of the Indonesian island of Banggai.
14. Spotted bracken 
Photo: Brian Gratwicke / flickr
The flat disc-shaped body of this impressive stingray reaches up to 3 meters in width, making it the largest among the eagles, with the exception of only the giant sea devil (4 - 4.5 m). The spotted bracken is very mobile, swims long distances in its life, hunting marine invertebrates and small fish.
13. Clownfish 
Photo: Ritiks / wikimedia
She is an orange amphiprion, she is anemonfish. The clown anemone is famous for its white and orange striped coloration, and is rightfully considered one of the most recognizable corals. Amphiprion grows up to 11 cm in length, and its favorite haven is sea anemones, a detachment of coral polyps. In order to successfully hide from predators among the stinging tentacles of anemones, the clownfish reproduces the composition of the mucus of the polyp and enters into a symbiotic relationship with this species of marine cnidarians.
12. Harlequin Shrimp 
Photo: Chad Ordelheide / wikimedia
The harlequin shrimp is a popular aquarium pet. This arthropod is native to the tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans and is easily recognizable by its white body with large light blue spots. Male harlequin shrimp are smaller than females of their species.
11. Blue Dragon 
Photo: Sylke Rohrlach / flickr
The blue dragon is a species of gastropod molluscs and a member of the order of nudibranch gastropods (snails). It is small in size and grows only up to 3 cm in length. The blue dragon is found in many seas of temperate and tropical zones.
10. Discus fish 
Photo: Biotopica, criadero de peces disco / Wikimedia
One of the most beautiful tropical fish in the world lives in the Amazon in South America. The expressive shape and bright coloration of the discus have become the reason for its great popularity among aquarium lovers. Among the people, the discus even received the nickname "king of aquariums."
9. Venus flytrap anemone 
Photo: NOAA Photo Library / flickr
Nicknamed after its namesake plant, this sea anemone deserves such a comparison because it has a similar digestive mechanism. The marine venus flytrap is a large deep-sea polyp that hunts by capturing prey with its "mouth" as it swims into a live "trap". Bright sea anemones scare away predators, but perfectly attract the smallest underwater inhabitants.
8. Royal starfish 
Photo: Julie Worthy Photography
Before you is one of the most outstanding starfish, living at a depth of 20-30 m in the region of the mid-continental shelf in the west of the Atlantic Ocean. The starfish is a carnivore and feeds on mollusks, which it catches with its ray arms, throwing prey directly into its mouth with them.
7. Berghia Coerulescens slug 
Photo: Wikimedia
The shellless sea snail Berghia Coerulescens is a species of sea slug that lives in the central and western Mediterranean, as well as in the north Atlantic Ocean. This underwater animal of bewitching color grows up to 7 cm in length, and so far little has been studied by biologists.
6. Zebra Lionfish 
Photo: Alexander Vasenin / wikimedia
It is also called zebra fish or striped lionfish. The zebra lionfish lives on the reefs and in the middle of the rocky crevices of the Indo-Pacific region, although for some time it has also been found in tropical waters of other oceans around the world. In some countries they are eaten, but striped lionfish are much more famous among aquarium lovers than gourmets.
5. Short-faced seahorse 
Photo: Hans Hillewaert / wikimedia
The short-faced seahorse is an inhabitant of the Mediterranean and the northern waters of the Atlantic Ocean. This animal is of medium size and grows up to 13 cm in length. The Mediterranean seahorse loves muddy shallow waters, estuaries and thickets of seaweed.
4. Lagoon triggerfish or triggerfish 
Photo: Wikimedia
This remarkable tropical fish is native to the Indo-Pacific region and prefers to hide on reefs. The lagoon triggerfish is sometimes called the Picasso triggerfish, and in Hawaii the locals call it "humuhumunukunukuapuaa". Did everyone read it without hesitation?
3. Green sea turtle 
Photo: Brocken Inaglory / wikimedia
The green or soup turtle lives in tropical and subtropical coastal waters around the world. This is a large and heavy animal with a wide and smooth shell. The green turtle deservedly received the title of the largest turtle in the world, since some representatives of this species weigh up to 320 kg.
2. Nudibranch mollusc Phyllidia Babai 
Photo: Nick Hobgood / wikimedia
This nudibranch species of sea slug is brightly colored and is found in Pacific waters around Papua New Guinea, South Korea and Australia.
1. Starfish "crown of thorns" 
Photo: Jon Hanson / flickr
This cute inhabitant of the bottom of the Indo-Pacific region feeds on coral reefs. Despite its attractive appearance, this starfish is considered a serious pest for its voraciousness, and is a great danger especially to the Great Barrier Reef. For humans, this animal is also not the best friend, since its injections are painful and rather toxic. The crown of thorns comes in a wide range of colors from deep red to orange, green, or shades of blue.
In this section of the site you will read how and where sea animals live, you can learn interesting facts about them, see photos of sea animals!
More than two thirds of the earth's surface is covered by seas and oceans. This huge mass of water is necessary for life on our planet: winds carry moisture around the world, it evaporates and is restored again in the form of rain and snow, nourishing the flora and fauna. The sea is teeming with life, and oddly enough, both microscopic and the largest marine life, such as the blue whale, manta or whale shark, feed on a large amount of food invisible to the naked eye - plankton.
Jellyfish more than 90% consists of water; some jellyfish can cause a painful burn.
At octopus eight tentacles; it lives on the sea floor and can change color to suit its habitat.
Turtle hawksbill (caretta)- very dexterous swimmer; Feeds mainly on jellyfish and crustaceans. Lays eggs in the sand on the shores of small bays.
Blue whale- this is the largest animal in the world: one female, caught in 1947, weighed 190 tons. A baby blue whale is born eight meters long and weighs up to three tons.
Marine life consists of algae- plants without a stem. Their life depends on sunlight, and therefore at great depths, where the rays of the sun do not penetrate, there are no algae.
moon fish usually swims in the open sea almost at the very surface, which is why its fin that has appeared from the water is often mistaken for a shark fin; unlike her, the moon-fish is completely harmless.
Angler. This amazing predatory fish lures its prey by shaking its "antenna", at the end of which there is a growth that looks like a delicious worm.
Zebra winged. Its spectacular appearance is fraught with serious danger - on the back of this fish is a fin that releases poison as strong as that of a cobra.
Needle fish. It hunts in a completely unique way: it approaches the prey, often hiding behind other fish, and with lightning speed sucks it into its long "beak". According to its characteristics, the needlefish is very similar to the seahorse.
Acne. For centuries, scientists since the Greek philosopher Aristotle have tried to understand how this fish reproduces. Today it is known that she spawns in the Sargasso Sea, between Bermuda and the Caribbean. The little larvae travel many thousands of kilometers to return to the rivers where their parents come from. The eel is a very strong fish; is found in fresh water and can remain out of water for a long time: part of its path is often made by land.
Sea birds. The sea provides food for many animals living on the coast. Among them are numerous sea birds. These birds have a lot in common: they all fly perfectly, can sink into the water, swim with webbed feet, and their beaks are adapted for fishing. Many of them, such as the cormorant, are able to chase fish underwater.
Cormorant. The inhabitants of Japan taught this bird to fish: with each fish caught, the bird returns to its owner.
Gull. Many different types of seabirds are called gulls. Flocks of gulls can often be seen chasing fishing boats returning from fishing: they pick up waste that sailors throw overboard. Seagulls have learned to find food even in landfills in the interior of the mainland at a distance of tens of kilometers from the sea.
Frigate. The male of this large, living on the shores of warm seas, inflates a huge bright red goiter during courtship to attract the attention of the female.
Sea depths.
Away from the coast, at great depths, algae do not grow, which require sunlight; there is only phytoplankton formed by microscopic algae floating freely in the water. For this reason, predators are found mainly at great depths; other fish are content with phyto and zooplankton. Consisting of the smallest invertebrates.
In open water spaces, where there are no shelters, only large sizes can instill fear in a predator and prevent an attack. Therefore, only far from the coast and large marine life is found: from cetaceans, such as killer whales and whales, to large fish, such as shark, tuna or swordfish.
Small fish use other methods of protection: flying fish jump high out of the water, and sardines and mackerel find salvation in the fact that they gather in large flocks.
The Earth is washed by four oceans: Indian, Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific. The largest is the Pacific Ocean, its area is 180 million square kilometers. The average depth of the oceans is about 4,000 meters. The vast extent and depth do not allow to explore the bottom of the oceans; in fact, it is extremely difficult and expensive to create machines that can withstand the highest pressure that exists in the depths of the sea.
The greatest depth of the ocean is the Mariinsky Trench in the Pacific Ocean: 11,022 meters.
Flying fish. Flying fish have strongly developed lateral fins, with the help of which it makes gliding flights above the sea surface, escaping from predators.
A complex combination of winds, currents, and alternating tides cause the waves to move. Waves above 10 meters rarely rise on the sea, but waves even more than 30 meters high have been observed.
Plankton.
A large number of microscopic organisms swim in the sea, which are not able to resist the currents - animals (zooplankton) and vegetable (phytoplankton) in their origin; together they make plankton. Carried by the currents, it serves as food for the smallest fish and crustaceans, as well as for huge mammals, such as the blue whale. Animals that are able to actively swim form a nekton.
Zooplankton- part of plankton formed by animal organisms.
Phytoplankton- this is that part of the plankton, which consists of microscopic algae floating in the water. A large amount of phytoplankton and gives the sea water a characteristic greenish color.
Millions of microscopic organisms, invisible to the naked eye, live in one liter of water. They not only constitute the food of marine animals, but are also necessary for the restoration of oxygen.
cetaceans.
These are large mammals, inhabitants of the seas and oceans. Over millions of years of evolution, their body has acquired a shape similar to that of the body of fish, thanks to which they swim quickly. But cetaceans, unlike fish, cannot breathe rarefied oxygen. They need to breathe air, so they are forced to float to the surface of the sea from time to time. Their young are born in the water; immediately after birth, the mother pushes them to the surface to take their first breath. This is a very crucial moment, and parents should be extremely careful not to meet with a predator.
The smallest of the cetaceans is the dolphin, and the largest is the sity whale, which is also the largest animal in the world.
"Fountain". It may appear that whales exhale water spray; in fact, what we see is a jet of air mixed with a small amount of water.
Ivasy whale (seyval), humpback and blue whales feed on plankton, which they filter through frequent horny plates called baleen. These plates prevent large animals from getting into their mouths, so these whales do not need teeth.
Humpback whale. Unlike other whales that prefer the open sea, the humpback whale lives close to the coast, sometimes even swimming in bays and rivers. Despite its mass of 30 tons, this frisky animal loves to "dance" leaning out of the water.
Sperm whale. This large animal reaches up to 20 meters in length. It feeds mainly on cephalopods, such as squid, as well as fish. Getting food, he can dive to a depth of two thousand meters, where there are giant squids weighing several centners. A sperm whale can hold its breath for almost two hours!
Narwhal. Because of the long straight tooth, similar to a horn, the narwhal cannot be confused with anyone else. This friendly animal lives in the cold Arctic waters.
killer whale. It has a reputation as a fierce and very dangerous predator; in fact, the killer whale, like other carnivores, attacks the animals that it feeds on, but there is no evidence that it attacked people.
Dolphin. Dolphins are very easy to tame due to the fact that they are very intelligent and have exceptional learning abilities. Dolphins, like all cetaceans, make many different sounds; this their dolphin "language" is studied by scientists. Dolphins are unusually friendly; once it was a dolphin who saved a shipwrecked man from sharks attacking him.
Sharks. These are very ancient fish; due to the streamlined shape of the body, when moving forward, sharks experience the most negligible resistance of water, therefore they swim very quickly. Unlike fish, sharks reproduce by laying eggs; some place them at the bottom, attaching them to algae or rocks, in others the eggs develop completely in the mother's body, and the cubs are born already formed. Sharks range from fearsome predators like the blue shark to peaceful plankton eaters like the huge whale shark, which, despite its fearsome appearance, is completely harmless. The whale shark is the largest fish in the world, its body length reaches 12 meters! The blue shark is thought to be a man-eating shark and there is plenty of evidence that it attacks shipwrecked people and bathers.
Gray shark. Lives in tropical seas, scouring the shallows for fish and crustaceans. It does not attack people, but if a person gets scared and tries to flee, this shark can become very dangerous.
Sawfish. It is found in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. A distinct feature is the long and flat snout with small teeth arranged like the teeth of a saw. It serves the fish for combing the sandy bottom in search of small prey. Occasionally, the sawfish uses its "nose" to protect itself from enemies. Often the shark is accompanied by pilot fish; they feed on leftover shark food and, oddly enough, they are not attacked by sharks. There is an opinion that the pilot fish shows the shark the way to large schools of fish. In fact, this is just a legend, devoid of any foundation.
Skat. It has a strongly flattened body, which gives the impression that it "flies" through the water. Basically, the stingray lives at the bottom, at moderate depths, where it is remarkably camouflaged. Some species of stingray have a long spike on their back that releases a strong poison. In the mouth, located on the belly, there are a lot of sharp teeth.
Tiger shark. This fish is called so because of the color of the skin. She swims close to the shore and feeds on everything: fish and crustaceans, birds and mammals.
Dark.
Sunlight does not penetrate deeper than several tens of meters through the water column. Below is constant darkness, and it is impossible to distinguish day from night. Plants cannot live without light, so there are no algae here at all. This is the reason that only predatory fish live at the depths, which lure prey in various ingenious ways.
Many deep-sea fish have special luminous organs, the so-called phosphors; they serve as bait before which other fish cannot resist and, attracted by such a "bait", are often eaten.
Deep-sea fish are able to withstand the highest pressure, moreover, they do not tolerate low pressure, and if they surfaced, they would die.
Organic matter slowly sinks to the bottom of the ocean - the remains of animals and plants that died in the surface layers. All this makes up the food of small benthic animals - this is the name of the totality of organisms living on the bottom. The benthos, in turn, serves as food for fish and larger mollusks, which are on the lookout for other predators that penetrate the depths of the sea from shallower layers, such as the sperm whale, which can dive to depths despite the fact that it breathes atmospheric air.
Giant squid. One representative of this species of animals, "stranded" on the island of Newfoundland in Canada, weighed two tons. In giant squids, the length of the body, together with tentacles, reaches 13 - 18 meters, it is even suggested that they get involved in the abyss of the oceans in fierce battles with sperm whales: on the body of which traces left by tentacles are often noticed, and the remains of giant squids are found in the stomachs.
Pelican-like bigmouth.
Always swims in the dark, holding a huge mouth wide open; thus he collects all the food that comes across his path.
Woody linophrine. Very little is known about this deep-sea fish due to the difficulty of studying it in its natural habitat. Probably, most of the time she lies quietly at the bottom, shaking her long antennae with a luminophor - a luminous organ located on her head. Other fish, caught on such a bait, inevitably end their lives in the throat of linophrine.
Coral reefs.
corals- these are small animals, in the colonies of which there are millions of individuals, live in tropical seas, attached to their bottom. Over time, one calcareous skeleton generated by them grows and forms real coral reefs in coastal zones, on which waves break; because of this, between the coast and the coral fence, the sea is calmer, as in a harbor.
coral reef- an ideal habitat for both animals and plants: the sea is calm and warm, there is a lot of sunlight. If you look underwater through a scuba mask, you can see countless different picturesque fish "walking" among starfish and sea anemones.
If you dive on the other side of the reef, in the direction of the open sea, you may experience a feeling of severe dizziness: there is no more bottom - only bright blue water.
The largest coral reef, with a length of more than 2000 kilometers, is located along the coast of Australia. These coral fortresses are called the great quarry reef and pose a serious danger to sailors.
Atolls. The tops of underwater volcanoes can rise above the water, forming small islands, or they can be located close to the surface of the ocean. If coral colonies form around them, they take an almost round shape, forming atolls - coral islands.
Madrepores. Relatives of corals are also formed by colonies of calcareous polyps. At night, they extend their tentacles, grabbing food consisting of plankton.
At the coast.
In the ocean near the coast, the most favorable conditions for the prosperity of the inhabitants of the underwater world: sunlight penetrates the water, promoting the rapid growth of algae and providing food for the animals that feed on them; these animals, in turn, themselves serve as food for predatory fish. And finally, the movement of the waves, which never reaches a depth of more than a few tens of meters, here causes mixing at the bottom, which contributes to its fertility.
The bottom can be rocky, muddy or sandy, sometimes covered with algae. In accordance with the type of the seabed, it is inhabited by various animals. For example, on a sandy bottom you can meet a flounder that hides in the sand, burrowing halfway into it, and an octopus finds shelter on a rocky bottom, where it is almost invisible among the rocks.
Among the rocks washed by the sea, providing a hospitable welcome to countless animals, there is a rich life. Some of the local inhabitants, such as mussels, patellas, urchins, starfish and sea anemones, do not swim. Shaded by crevices and cliffs hide crustaceans, octopuses and fish such as sargus, grouper, rock bass and moray eels. The flounder and the dragon hide in the sand, and the sultan explores it with her long antennae in search of food. All this potential prey attracts to the coast hunting fish living in the open sea - laurels, large serioles and Zubans.
Sea urchins. When swimming in the sea, you need to be very careful not to step on these animals: the consequences can be the saddest! The mouth of a sea urchin is called an Aristotelian lantern and contains five constantly growing teeth. Some hedgehogs have short and frequent spines, while others have long and sparse ones. They differ in color.
Crustaceans. All these animals, mostly marine, have two pairs of antennae, and some have two more solid claws that can close with force. During the day, they usually hide in crevices of rocks, but at night they become active and go in search of food, usually consisting of molluscs and dead animals.
spiny lobster found in the seas almost all over the world; its mass can reach eight kilograms.
Lobster like lobster, it is a very popular marine product; lobsters are caught with the help of special traps - tops. Unlike the spiny lobster, it has claws.
A distinctive feature of the crab is a specific way to move sideways.
Crustaceans have a permanent burrow, where they will certainly return after nightly forays for food: this indicates that crustaceans have a good sense of orientation. Some of them, for example, spiny lobsters, make massive migrations over long distances.
In the sea and ocean depths there are a huge number of all kinds of creatures that amaze with their sophisticated defense mechanisms, the ability to adapt, and, of course, their appearance. This is a whole universe that has not yet been fully explored. In this rating, we have collected the most unusual representatives of the depths, from fish with beautiful colors to creepy monsters.
15
Our rating of the most unusual inhabitants of the depths opens with a dangerous and at the same time amazing lion fish, also known as a striped lionfish or zebra fish. This cute creature, about 30 centimeters long, is most of the time among the corals in a stationary state, and only from time to time swims from one place to another. Thanks to its beautiful and unusual coloration, as well as long fan-like pectoral and dorsal fins, this fish attracts the attention of both people and marine life.
However, behind the beauty of the color and shape of her fins, sharp and poisonous needles are hidden, with which she protects herself from enemies. The lion fish itself does not attack first, but if a person accidentally touches it or steps on it, then from one injection with such a needle, his health will deteriorate sharply. If there are several injections, then the person will need outside help to swim to the shore, as the pain can become unbearable and lead to loss of consciousness.
14
This is a small marine bony fish of the family of marine needles of the needle-shaped order. Seahorses lead a sedentary lifestyle, they are attached to the stems with flexible tails, and thanks to numerous spikes, outgrowths on the body and iridescent colors, they completely merge with the background. This is how they protect themselves from predators and disguise themselves while hunting for food. Skates feed on small crustaceans and shrimps. The tubular stigma acts like a pipette - prey is drawn into the mouth along with water.
The body of seahorses in the water is located unconventionally for fish - vertically or diagonally. The reason for this is the relatively large swim bladder, most of which is located in the upper body of the seahorse. The difference between seahorses and other species is that their offspring are carried by a male. On his stomach he has a special brood chamber in the form of a bag that plays the role of a uterus. Seahorses are very prolific animals, and the number of embryos hatched in a male's pouch ranges from 2 to several thousand. Childbirth in a male is often painful and can end in death.
13
This representative of the depths is a relative of the previous participant in the rating - the seahorse. The leafy sea dragon, rag-picker or sea pegasus is an unusual fish, so named for its fantastic appearance - translucent delicate greenish fins cover its body and constantly sway from the movement of water. Although these processes look like fins, they do not take part in swimming, but serve only for camouflage. The length of this creature reaches 35 centimeters, and it lives only in one place - off the southern coast of Australia. The rag-picker swims slowly, its maximum speed is up to 150 m/h. As with seahorses, the offspring are carried by males in a special bag formed during spawning along the lower surface of the tail. The female lays her eggs in this bag and all care for the offspring falls on the father.
12
The frilled shark is a species of shark that looks much more like a strange sea snake or eel. Since the Jurassic period, the frilled predator has not changed a bit over millions of years of existence. She got her name for the presence of a brown formation on her body, resembling a cape. It is also called the frilled shark because of the numerous folds of skin on its body. Such peculiar folds on her skin, according to scientists, are a reserve of body volume for placement in the stomach of large prey.
After all, the frilled shark swallows its prey, mostly whole, since the needle-like tips of its teeth, bent inside the mouth, are not able to crush and grind food. The frilled shark lives in the bottom layer of water of all oceans, except for the Arctic, at a depth of 400-1200 meters, it is a typical deep-sea predator. The frilled shark can reach 2 meters in length, but the usual sizes are smaller - 1.5 meters for females and 1.3 meters for males. This species lays eggs: the female brings 3-12 cubs. Embryo gestation can last up to two years.
11
This type of crustacean from the infraorder of crabs is one of the largest representatives of arthropods: large individuals reach 20 kilograms, 45 centimeters in carapace length and 4 m in the span of the first pair of legs. It lives mainly in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Japan at a depth of 50 to 300 meters. It feeds on mollusks and remains, and lives presumably up to 100 years. The percentage of survival among the larvae is very small, so the females spawn more than 1.5 million of them. In the process of evolution, the front two legs turned into large claws that can reach a length of 40 centimeters. Despite such a formidable weapon, the Japanese spider crab is not aggressive and has a calm disposition. It is even used in aquariums as an ornamental animal.
10
These large deep-sea crayfish can grow to over 50 cm in length. The largest recorded specimen weighed 1.7 kilograms and was 76 centimeters long. Their body is covered with hard plates that are softly connected to each other. This armor attachment provides good mobility, so giant isopods can curl up into a ball when they sense danger. Rigid plates reliably protect the body of cancer from deep-sea predators. Quite often they are found in the English Blackpool, and in other places of the planet are not uncommon. These animals live at a depth of 170 to 2,500 m. Most of the entire population prefers to keep at a depth of 360-750 meters.
They prefer to live on a clay bottom alone. Isopods are carnivorous, can hunt for slow prey at the bottom - sea cucumbers, sponges, and possibly small fish. Do not disdain carrion, which falls to the seabed from the surface. Since there is not always enough food at such a great depth, and finding it in pitch darkness is not an easy task, isopods have adapted to do without food at all for a long time. It is known for sure that cancer is able to starve for 8 weeks in a row.
9
The purple tremoctopus or blanket octopus is a very unusual octopus. Although, octopuses are generally strange creatures - they have three hearts, poisonous saliva, the ability to change the color and texture of their skin, and their tentacles are able to perform certain actions without instructions from the brain. However, the purple tremoctopus is the strangest of all. For starters, we can say that the female is 40,000 times heavier than the male! The male is only 2.4 centimeters long and lives almost like plankton, while the female reaches 2 meters in length. When a female is frightened, she can expand the cloak-like membrane located between the tentacles, which visually increases her size and makes her look even more dangerous. It is also interesting that the blanket octopus is immune to the venom of the Portuguese man-of-war jellyfish; moreover, the smart octopus sometimes tears off the tentacles of the jellyfish and uses them as a weapon.
8
The blobfish is a deep-sea bottom marine fish of the Psycholute family, often referred to as one of the most feared fish on the planet due to its unattractive appearance. These fish presumably live at depths of 600-1200 m off the coast of Australia and Tasmania, where fishermen have begun to increasingly bring them to the surface, which is why this species of fish is endangered. A blob fish consists of a gelatinous mass with a density slightly less than the density of water itself. This allows blobfish to swim at such depths without expending large amounts.
Lack of muscles for this fish is not a problem. She swallows almost everything edible that swims in front of her, lazily opening her mouth. It feeds mainly on molluscs and crustaceans. Even though the blobfish is not edible, it is endangered. Fishermen, in turn, sell this fish as a souvenir. Drop fish populations are slowly recovering. It takes 4.5 to 14 years to double the size of a blobfish population.
7 Sea urchin
Sea urchins are very ancient animals of the echinoderm class that inhabited the Earth already 500 million years ago. At the moment, about 940 modern species of sea urchins are known. The size of the body of a sea urchin is from 2 to 30 centimeters and is covered with rows of calcareous plates that form a dense shell. According to the shape of the body, sea urchins are divided into regular and irregular. In regular hedgehogs, the body shape is almost round. Irregular hedgehogs have a flattened body shape, and they have distinguishable front and rear ends of the body. Needles of various lengths are movably connected to the shell of sea urchins. The length ranges from 2 millimeters to 30 centimeters. Quills are often used by sea urchins for locomotion, feeding and protection.
In some species, which are distributed mainly in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans, the needles are poisonous. Sea urchins are bottom crawling or burrowing animals that usually live at a depth of about 7 meters and are widely distributed on coral reefs. Sometimes some individuals can crawl out onto. Correct sea urchins prefer rocky surfaces; wrong - soft and sandy soil. Hedgehogs reach sexual maturity in the third year of life, and live for about 10-15 years, up to a maximum of 35.
6
Bolsherot lives in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans at a depth of 500 to 3000 meters. The body of the large mouth is long and narrow, outwardly resembling an eel 60 cm, sometimes up to 1 meter. Because of the giant stretching mouth, reminiscent of a pelican beak bag, it has a second name - pelican fish. The length of the mouth is almost 1/3 of the total body length, the rest is a thin body, turning into a tail thread, at the end of which there is a luminous organ. The big mouth lacks scales, a swim bladder, ribs, an anal fin, and a complete bone skeleton.
Their skeleton consists of several deformed bones and light cartilage. Therefore, these fish are quite light. They have a tiny skull and small eyes. Due to poorly developed fins, these fish cannot swim fast. Due to the size of the mouth, this fish is able to swallow prey that exceeds its size. The swallowed victim enters the stomach, which is able to stretch to a huge size. The pelican fish feeds on other deep-sea fish and crustaceans that can be found at such a depth.
5
The sac-throat or black eater is a deep-sea perch-like representative of the Chiasmodean suborder, living at a depth of 700 to 3000 meters. This fish grows up to 30 centimeters in length and is found throughout tropical and subtropical waters. This fish got its name for the ability to swallow prey several times larger than itself. This is possible due to the very elastic stomach and the absence of ribs. The sack-swallower can easily swallow fish 4 times longer and 10 times heavier than its body.
This fish has very large jaws, and on each of them the front three teeth form sharp fangs, with which it holds the victim when it pushes it into its stomach. As the prey decomposes, a lot of gas is released inside the stomach of the bag-eater, which raises the fish to the surface, where some black devourers with bloated bellies have been found. It is impossible to observe the animal in its natural habitat, so very little is known about its life.
4
This lizard-headed creature belongs to the deep-sea lizard-headed ones that live in the tropical and subtropical seas of the world, at a depth of 600 to 3500 meters. Its length reaches 50-65 centimeters. Outwardly, it is very reminiscent of long-extinct dinosaurs in a reduced form. It is considered the deepest predator, devouring everything that comes in its way. Even on the tongue, the bathysaurus has teeth. At such a depth, it is quite difficult for this predator to find a mate, but this is not a problem for him, since the bathysaurus is a hermaphrodite, that is, it has both male and female sexual characteristics.
3
The small-mouthed macropinna, or barrel-eye, is a species of deep-sea fish, the only representative of the macropinna genus, belonging to the smelt-like order. These amazing fish have a transparent head through which they can follow their prey with their tubular eyes. It was discovered in 1939, and lives at a depth of 500 to 800 meters, and therefore has not been well studied. Fish in their normal habitat are usually immobile, or move slowly in a horizontal position.
Previously, the principle of the operation of the eyes was not clear, since the olfactory organs are located above the mouth of the fish, and the eyes are placed inside the transparent head and can only look up. The green color of the eyes of this fish is due to the presence of a specific yellow pigment in them. It is believed that this pigment provides a special filtering of light coming from above and reduces its brightness, which allows the fish to distinguish the bioluminescence of potential prey.
In 2009, scientists found that due to the special structure of the eye muscles, these fish are able to move their cylindrical eyes from a vertical position, in which they are usually located, to a horizontal one, when they are directed forward. In this case, the mouth is in the field of view, which provides an opportunity to capture prey. In the stomach of macropinnas, zooplankton of various sizes were found, including small cnidarians and crustaceans, as well as siphonophore tentacles along with cnidocytes. Taking this into account, we can conclude that the continuous transparent membrane above the eyes of this species evolved as a way of protecting cnidocytes from cnidaria.
1
The first place in our ranking of the most unusual inhabitants of the depths was taken by a deep-sea monster called the angler or devil fish. These scary and unusual fish live at great depths, from 1500 to 3000 meters. They are characterized by a spherical, laterally flattened body shape and the presence of a “fishing rod” in females. The skin is black or dark brown, naked; in several species it is covered with transformed scales - spines and plaques, ventral fins are absent. There are 11 families, including almost 120 species.
The anglerfish is a predatory marine fish. A special outgrowth on his back helps him to hunt other inhabitants of the underwater world - one feather from the dorsal fin separated from the others during evolution, and a transparent bag formed at its end. In this sac, which is actually a gland with liquid, surprisingly, there are bacteria. They may or may not glow, obeying their master in this matter. The anglerfish regulates the luminosity of bacteria by dilating or constricting blood vessels. Some members of the angler family adapt even more sophisticatedly, acquiring a folding rod or growing it right in the mouth, while others have glowing teeth.
MBDOU d / s No. 44
« sea creatures and
Interesting facts about them»
Prepared by: Kanareikina M.A.
SHARK
Here is a doodle shark
Opened her evil mouth.
You to the doodle shark
Don't you want to get in?
Right into the mouth.
(K. Chukovsky)
Sharks are strong predators, they are often called "sea wolves". The body of sharks is ideally adapted for fast swimming. When creating high-speed torpedoes and submarines, shipbuilders strive to give them the shape of a shark.
Shark got sick
Several teeth.
Help her soon
Call the doctors!
(N. Migunova)
Sharks have many sharp teeth. They grow in several rows, have a triangular shape, are bent back and serrated at the edges. In sharpness, they can be compared with a surgical scalpel. Sharks do not have scales, and their skin is so tough that the inhabitants of tropical countries use the shark skin as a grater or sandpaper.
Many people are sure that sharks are very brave animals, so they fearlessly rush to their prey. In fact, sharks are cowardly and attack only when they are convinced of the defenselessness of the victim. But, smelling the smell of blood, the shark forgets about the danger. Sharks have such a keen sense of smell that they can smell blood from miles away. The shark feeds on fish, but also attacks dolphins, seals, turtles, other sharks, and even whales.
Don't look what the shark has
Cheekbones invisible from the side
In grazing teeth in three rows -
Eat anyone without difficulty.
(Yu. Parfenov)
A hungry shark can pounce on anything it sees nearby. Various garbage was often found in the stomachs of the caught sharks: tin cans, rags, wrecks of boats, and once even a depth bomb was found.
Many sharks are dangerous to humans. These are white and tiger sharks, mocha and hammerhead sharks. They are large and can easily bite a person in half.
But the largest of the sharks - whale, reaching a length of 19 meters, is quite peaceful. Unlike its predatory relatives, it feeds on plankton and small fish.
CRAB
The crab played sea football,
He scored a goal with a claw.
Everyone was so happy
That the team won.
(N. Migunova)
Crabs run along the bottom of warm seas and oceans. They have a wide and short body, covered with a strong shell. Crabs have five pairs of legs. The front legs are transformed into powerful claws. With the help of claws, crabs cut their food into pieces and put it in their mouths.
Crabs, like other inhabitants of the seabed, are good scavengers. They eat the rotting remains of marine organisms, cleansing the ocean of harmful substances. But sometimes crabs attack underwater plantations where oysters and mussels are bred.
Traveling along the bottom, crabs are forced to hide from predators and disguise themselves. They plant pieces of algae on spikes on their legs. And the junk crab, which lives in the Mediterranean Sea, collects everything that gets into its claws - empty shells, shards of glass, fish heads - and puts it on its back. Such "decorations" perfectly mask the crab. When the junk crab is in danger, it exposes its back to the predator with trash.
The wandering crab once misled even Christopher Columbus himself. This type of crab does not live at the bottom, but travels along the surface of the ocean, sitting on a detached algae or a tree branch. When Columbus was approaching the shores of America, sailors noticed a wandering crab in the Sargasso Sea. They decided that the land was somewhere close, but in fact it was still very far from the nearest shore.
The king crab looks like a real crab, but in fact it is a relative of the hermit crab. He has not five, but four pairs of legs. King crab is a real giant! Its shell width reaches 25 centimeters, the distance between the ends of the legs is up to 1.5 meters. Kamchatka crabs live in the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea. Most of them are off the coast of Kamchatka.
PATTER
The crab made the rake to the crab,
Crab served the rake to the crab.
Hay rake, crab, rob.
MYSTERY
Cleverly collects garbage
The bottom of the sea cleans.
(Crab)
CANCER HERMIT
Cancer climbed the mountain
And learned to whistle.
It turned out only BRYAK!
Cancer fell off the mountain.
(I. Zhukov)
In a hermit crab, only the front part of the body is covered with a hard shell, and the abdomen is soft and defenseless. To protect themselves from marine predators, these animals hide in the empty shells of sea snails, like hermits in caves. The soft abdomen can twist in the whorls of the shell, and the abdominal legs quickly draw the body inward.
When moving, crayfish carry the shell with them all the time. When they are in danger, hermit crabs completely climb into the shell, closing the entrance with a large claw. When the hermit crab grows up, the old shell becomes cramped for him. He gets out of it and looks for a more spacious sink. At this time, he needs to be especially careful not to get predatory fish for dinner.
To enhance protection, the hermit crab often plants a sea anemone on its shell. This beautiful inhabitant of the ocean, similar to a bright flower, has very burning tentacles. If you touch them, you can seriously burn yourself. The hermit crab, having met the sea anemone that it likes at the bottom, “tears” it from the stone with a claw and transplants it onto its shell. Anemone is not at all against such a neighborhood - after all, she always gets crumbs from the hermit crab's dining table. When a cancer changes an old shell for another, he transplants his burning neighbor to a new house.
Very often, hermit crabs arrange real battles with relatives for the possession of a shell or a beautiful sea anemone. The defeated cancer lies on its side or back, and the winner does not touch it anymore.
PUZZLES
People live under water
Walks backwards.
(Raki)
Not a blacksmith
And with ticks.
(Cancer hermit)
OCTOPUS
He lives at the bottom
At a terrible depth -
many-armed,
many-legged,
Nogoruky,
Armed.
Walks in the sea without boots
Octopus Kalmarych Octopus!
(G. Kruzhkov)
Octopuses do not have a hard skeleton. Its soft body has no bones and can freely bend in different directions. The octopus was named so because eight limbs extend from its short body. They have two rows of large suckers, with which the octopus can hold prey or attach to the stones at the bottom.
Octopuses live at the bottom, hiding in crevices between stones or in underwater caves. They have the ability to change color very quickly and become the same color as the ground.
The only hard part of the body of octopuses is the horny beak-like jaws. Octopuses are real predators. At night, they get out of their hiding places and go hunting. Octopuses can not only swim, but also, by rearranging their tentacles, walk along the bottom. The usual prey of octopuses are shrimp, lobsters, crabs and fish, which they paralyze with poison from the salivary glands. With their beak, they can even break the strong shells of crabs and crayfish or mollusk shells. The octopus takes the prey to the shelter, where they slowly eat it. Among the octopuses there are very poisonous ones, the bite of which can be fatal even for humans.
Often, octopuses build shelters from stones or shells, while wielding their tentacles as if they were hands. Octopuses guard their home and can easily find it, even if they have gone far. Since ancient times, people have been afraid of octopuses (octopuses - as they called them), writing terrible legends about them. The ancient Roman scientist Pliny the Elder spoke about a giant octopus - a polypus that stole fishing catches. Every night the octopus got out on the shore and ate the fish lying in the baskets. The dogs, smelling the octopus, started barking. The fishermen who came running saw how the octopus defended itself from the dogs with its huge tentacles. The fishermen struggled with the octopus. When the giant was measured, it turned out that its tentacles reached a length of 10 meters, and its weight was about 300 kilograms.
MYSTERY
Are you not familiar with me?
I live at the bottom of the sea
Head and eight legs -
That's all I am ... (octopus).
STARFISH
A star fell from the sky
She got into the ocean.
And now it's there all year round
Slowly crawling along the bottom.
(V. Moroz)
The starfish is a predator that lives at the bottom of the ocean. Usually these animals are shaped like an asterisk with five rays. Brightly colored starfish slowly crawl along the bottom or burrow into the silt. They feed on molluscs, holothurians, brittle stars and sea urchins. The mouth of a starfish is located on the underside of the body, therefore, in order to eat prey, a starfish crawls on top of it.
Starfish have an amazing ability to open the shells of oysters or mussels with their strong rays. Some stars don't even need to fully open their shells. They turn their stomach inside out through their mouths and push it into the hole in the shell. The mollusk is digested right in the shell. Having digested the prey, the star draws the stomach back.
In case of danger, starfish, like lizards, can throw off part of their body. But a new lizard will not grow from a discarded tail. In a starfish, on the contrary, a new animal grows from any part of the body. Scientists conducted experiments - they cut a starfish into several parts. Each part after a while turned into a starfish. Starfish are relatives of sea urchins. The starfish asterias even has a calcareous skeleton, and small needles stick out from under the skin. Another variety of starfish, acancasters, are similar to sea urchins - their rays and backs are covered with long and poisonous spines. Acancasters cause great damage to coral colonies by eating them.
Some starfish feed on their relatives. For example, crossovers. These huge starfish have 12 rays and grow to almost half a meter in diameter. They are able to move quickly along the bottom and catch up with slower starfish. Crossasters themselves may feel safe because they have poisonous bodies.
SEA URCHIN
Like a cactus on the window
The sea urchin grows at the bottom.
The flounder swam
Poured him with water.
(Yu. Parfenov)
It turns out that hedgehogs live not only on land. There are also sea urchins. They are not relatives of land hedgehogs, but belong to the class of invertebrate animals such as echinoderms.
Outside, the body of the sea urchin is covered with a shell, from which numerous needles protrude. The needles are very thin and sharp, with notches at their ends. If such a needle sticks into the skin of a person, it is very difficult to remove it. Sea urchins are poisonous, and, having pricked, a person will feel a burning pain.
With the help of needles, sea urchins not only protect themselves from enemies, but also move, like on stilts, along the seabed. The spear-bearing sea urchin moves at great speed, one might even say that it does not walk, but runs. Small fish use sea urchin needles for protection. They make a safe hiding place between the needles. In gratitude for the fact that the hedgehog protects them, the fish clean its shell. These fish acquire the same color as the color of their "master" - the sea urchin. At night, the fish briefly leave their shelter, and in case of danger they again hide between the needles.
Despite their intimidating appearance, sea urchins are often defenseless. Their main enemy is starfish. They can stick their stomach between the needles and digest the hedgehog from the outside.
Large snails living in the Mediterranean Sea have invented an unusual way of hunting sea urchins. They spit on their prey! In the saliva of these snails there is hydrochloric acid, which paralyzes the hedgehog and corrodes its shell.
Some predatory fish release a strong jet of water from their mouths into the hedgehog. The sea urchin rolls over with its unprotected belly up and becomes easy prey.
MYSTERY
Looks like a spiny ball
Lives deep at the bottom.
(Sea urchin)
JELLYFISH
transparent jellyfish
Floats a little.
Touch the jellyfish -
How electric it will burn!
(N. Migunova)
Jellyfish are close relatives of sea anemones and corals. Unlike these animals, they do not spend their whole lives attached to stones, but swim freely in the open sea.
Jellyfish have a translucent body in the shape of an umbrella or a bell, similar to jelly. These animals swim by rhythmically contracting the umbrella and pushing water out from under it. They capture prey with the help of tentacles.
On the tentacles of jellyfish are stinging cells that can burn the enemy or even paralyze him. The poison contained in the stinging cells of a small cross jellyfish can cause fatal burns in humans. Another jellyfish, the sea wasp, is also dangerous for humans. It looks like an inverted deep bowl, from which twenty tentacles 10 meters long stretch down. They contain a large amount of poison.
Jellyfish feed on plankton, small crustaceans and fish.
Jellyfish come in different sizes, from a few millimeters to several meters. The largest polar jellyfish lives in the northern seas. Its tentacles are up to 30 meters long and 2 meters in diameter.
Jellyfish about the sea
Poems composes,
But only about this
Nobody will know
She has no hands
To hold a pen
She doesn't have a mouth
To read aloud.
The jellyfish composes for itself,
Her silent muse is sad.
(I. Zhukov)
Jellyfish live not only on the surface of the ocean, but also in the depths of the sea. Deep-sea jellyfish are able to glow in the dark. In the light of this living lantern, small crustaceans swim, right into the tentacles of the insidious jellyfish.
Other jellyfish also glow. The umbrella and tentacles of the pelagia jellyfish burn with a yellow-orange light. If many equioria jellyfish living off the Pacific coast of America rise to the surface, it seems that the whole sea is blazing with red fire.
FLYING FISH
In tropical seas live fish that have learned to "fly". They are members of the flying fish family. The front fins of these fish have developed into true wings. Before flying, flying fish first accelerate in the sea to a speed of 40 kilometers per hour, tightly pressing the fins to the body. Then the fish spread their fins wide and abruptly jump out of the water. They hit the water with their tail to increase their speed. Taking off above the water, flying fish move away from the predators chasing them.
Coloring also helps flying fish hide from enemies. Their backs are dark blue, and birds of prey cannot see them from above. The lower part of the body of flying fish is silvery, other fish, swimming from below, also do not see them.
In flight, fish do not flap their fins like birds, but simply glide over the water. In this way, flying fish fly a distance of 10 to 300 meters. There have been cases when flying fish even flew onto the decks of ocean ships. At night, they did not notice the high side of the ship, and the air current carried them directly to the deck.
In South America, small fish from the haracin family live, which also fly over the water surface. But at the same time, they also wave their fins! Even the sabrefish living in the waters of Russia can jump out of the water, flapping its front fins like wings. These are such amazing fish that it’s not enough to move in the water - they want to master the air ocean as well. PUZZLES
She lives in the water
There is no beak, but it pecks.
(Fish)
For parents and children
All clothing made from coins.
(Fish)
Shines in the clean river
The back is silver.
(Fish)
SEA TURTLE
Gold plays with gloss
Shell sticking out of the water.
What kind of animal or bird is this?
Without a doubt, a turtle.
(N. Kindness)
Sea turtles live in the waters of tropical seas. They are fully adapted to life in the aquatic environment. Their paws turned into flippers, and the shell became streamlined and flattened. Unlike land turtles, sea turtles cannot hide their heads under their shells. The largest sea turtles are leatherback. Their length reaches two meters, and weight - 600 kilograms.
Among sea turtles there are predators that feed on mollusks and crustaceans, and peaceful herbivores that eat aquatic plants, mainly seaweed. Sea turtles breed on land. They lay large eggs on the sandy shores of islands and mainland coasts in the tropics. Helping itself with flippers and even with its tail, the turtle crawls a few meters from the water. With her hind legs, she diligently digs a deep hole in which she lays her eggs. Then the turtle fills the hole and carefully levels it so that predatory animals and birds do not find the laying of eggs.
The turtles, having hatched from eggs, obeying instinct, crawl to the water's edge. For their first journey, they choose night time, when it is safer to crawl. And yet, out of every ten newborn turtles, only one will be able to reach the sea. Birds with sharp beaks and large crabs with strong claws lie in wait for them.
The turtle is in no hurry
On the waves of the sea lies.
Quietly flippers rowing
And floats to itself, floats.
Sea turtles travel long distances in search of food. And in order to lay their eggs, they always return to the same beaches. Sometimes these beaches are located many thousands of kilometers from their feeding grounds. Scientists believe that turtles can navigate by smell and by the sun. MYSTERY
Who is in the sea
In a stone shirt?
In a stone shirt
In the sea ... (turtles)
WHALE
A whale spends its whole life in the water,
Even if it's not a fish.
He eats in the sea and sleeps in the sea,
For which he - thanks:
It would be crowded on land from a huge carcass!
(B. Zakhoder)
The largest animals on our planet are whales. The largest of them - blue whales - reach a length of 30 meters and a weight of 150 tons.
The ancestors of whales once lived on land, but then returned to the sea again. The body of animals has acquired a streamlined shape, the hair has disappeared.
Whales look like huge fish, but they are not fish, but mammals, and their internal structure is almost the same as that of a person. And whales, like other mammals, feed their young with milk. Whales are warm-blooded animals, and a thick layer of subcutaneous fat protects them from hypothermia.
The nostrils of whales are located on the top of their heads. They open only for a short moment of inhalation-exhalation, when the whale floats to the surface of the water. The lungs of whales have a large volume, and whales can stay under water for a long time without breathing, and even dive to a depth of more than 500 meters, and sperm whales to a depth of more than one kilometer. Adults and children know
I am the biggest in the world!
Two miles from the ship
You can see me!
For orientation in the water, whales make sounds that the human ear is not able to catch. The whale's brain is a real sonar that picks up sound signals reflected from various objects in the water and determines the distance to them.
Whales feed mainly on fish or small crustaceans. They swim with their mouths open, filtering water through special plates - whalebone.
Some whales, they are called toothed, do not have a whalebone, but they do have teeth. Toothed whales sperm whales feed on huge squid, in search of which they dive to great depths.
People have hunted whales for a long time. Today, there are few of these giants left, and they are taken under protection.
MYSTERY
Across the sea-ocean
The miracle giant floats,
And he hides his mustache in his mouth.
(Whale)
DOLPHIN
Dolphins from sea water
We are shown back.
How they swim beautifully -
Very fast and playful!
(N. Migunova)
One beautiful legend tells that dolphins are people who once went to the sea, and therefore there is a lot in common between people and dolphins. Indeed, dolphins are the most intelligent inhabitants of the ocean. They treat people differently. Dolphins often rescued drowning sailors by holding them to the surface of the water with their bodies.
Once, when the ship was wrecked, there were many people in the water. Dolphins quickly came to their rescue. They swam around and drove away hungry sharks from people until a rescue ship arrived.
Dolphins often swim up to the shore to play with people. And one Scottish girl even made friends with a dolphin, and every day he sailed to her house on the ocean.
Forgetting about their own safety, dolphins are ready to help other animals. It happened that dolphins even helped injured sharks, and sharks are the worst enemies of dolphins. Dolphins are easily tamed by humans. Numerous dolphinariums have been created, where trainers teach them various circus tricks. There are such dolphinariums in our country.
Bottlenose dolphins are considered the most capable. Sometimes they show even more intelligence than trained monkeys. Dolphins are good at imitating sounds made by humans, such as laughing or crying. They can even repeat single words and entire sentences.
Dolphins have their own language of communication. They “talk” to each other, making whistles and clicks. When chasing prey, dolphins make sounds similar to dog barking, when they are fed, they “meow”, and when unfamiliar objects appear nearby, the dolphin’s voice is like the creak of rusty door hinges.
CORAL
In the tropical waters of the ocean, where the temperature never drops below +20 degrees, corals live. Even in ancient times, people appreciated the beauty of corals and made necklaces, earrings and other jewelry from them. Entire islands are made up of coral skeletons - coral atolls. They come in different and incredible colors and seem to be delightful underwater flowers. In fact, these are animals that spend their entire lives attached to the seabed.
The body of a coral polyp resembles an empty bag, on one side of which there is a mouth surrounded by tentacles, and on the other, a flat disk with which the animal attaches to underwater objects. The coral skeleton eventually dies from below, while the coral continues to grow upwards. Other corals depart from it, forming a branched "tree". Corals grow very slowly. One and a half thousand corals during the year form only one gram of the skeleton. But corals have been growing continuously for millions of years. Scientists have calculated that during this time, all the corals on Earth have created land, the area equal to Europe.
Corals need clean water; therefore, they grow best in the straits between reefs in the foamy surf. Corals die where fresh water or industrial effluents enter seawater. Corals have a lot of enemies: stone borers, clams, worms that destroy coral trunks, starfish, fish, holothurians and crustaceans.
The largest structure on Earth built by corals is the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. It stretches from north to south for several thousand kilometers and consists of a huge number of reefs and islets.
PATTER
Carl stole corals from Clara,
and Clara stole the clarinet from Karl.
