#translucent animals

Interesting Notes: As a comb jelly, this bizarrely beautiful creature doesn't move like a true jellyfish, but propels itself by rhythmically waving rows of hair-like cilia. Being totally translucent, its stomach's deep red color - one of the hardest colors to see at this ocean depth - stealthily keeps predators from spotting any bioluminescent meals still digesting within its stomach. Like its fellow comb jellies, instead of stinging its prey, it produces an extremely sticky, glue-like substance that holds its prey captive as it's slowly dragged into its mouth.

Interesting Note:  Frogs in the family Centrolenidae are commonly referred to as "Glass Frogs" as they all have clear, glass-like skin on their abdomen and legs.  Scientists were originally baffled as to how clear stomachs and legs would work as effective camouflage when their back was still opaque until realizing that the clear legs softens the frog's silhouette on the leaves, creating a sort of artificial gradient from the leaf's color to their back's markings.  This optical illusion turned out to be more than enough to hide them from most birds seeking a snack.

Interesting Notes: If unable to find a suitable floating surface to attach itself to, this delicate and unique barnacle secretes a gas-filled cement, creating its own natural float. It is the only known barnacle to do this. This structure is the pale yellow shape, similar in appearance to expanding foam, visible at left in the photo above. (Hopefully the little guys pictured found their way back to the sea after this photograph was taken! : ) )

View On WordPress

In the dark waters near the Pacific Ocean seafloor a hydromedusa waves enough tentacles to appear rather like its ancient Greek namesake, Medusa. Medusae, which bud asexually from bottom-dwelling polyps, are just one stage of this jellyfish’s life cycle. Males and females release sperm and eggs, which spawn freely in seawater and form new polyps to begin the cycle again.

Translucent Marine Animals

cempa's post prompted me to look up larval cowfish. Which resulted in finding this. Which is just one image out of an entire gallery of shiny translucent sea creature images available here.