Ocean camouflage

During our trip overseas we have been to three different aquariums and one thing that really interested me was the way that underwater creatures camouflage themselves.

Octopuses

As you can see octopuses are exceptionally good at camouflage, they can change their colour and texture to match their surroundings they do this by bulging their muscles and using multicoloured ink under their skin. 

If you want to find out more about Octopus Camouflage check out my blog specifically about that...

Sea horse

The sea horse pretends to be a floating piece of kelp. As you can see it is very, very good at it. A sea horse’s natural colours can vary but they are able to fool a fish for enough time to get away. 

Decorator Crab

This cool interesting creature is called a decorator crab. What is does is takes pieces of its surroundings and chews on them to make them softer. This allows the decorator crab to attach different things to its skin giving it the texture and look of its surroundings.  

Rock Fish

This creature is called a rock fish. It lies near rocks and its skin looks like rocks, so it blends in perfectly with a rock or even a piece of coral. Another cool fact about the rock fish is that their sting is excruciating! People who have been stung by the rock fish have begged to have the stung limb amputated to stop the pain.

Sting Ray

You might not think of a sting ray as a creature that uses camouflage, but its dark top allows it to blend in with the ocean floor. Another creature that uses the same kind of camouflage is the flat fish which is a sandy colour which allows it to blend in even if it's in the shallows.  

Hermit Crab

This creature is fairly well known it even has a human counter part yes! You guessed it. The hermit crab which will pick up a shell and hide itself inside. It will even curl up its legs to become completely invisible.

Deep Water Jelly Fish

This creature may not have a brain but it's still adapt to its surroundings in the deep where it lives. It is practically invisible! This is known as the Medusa Jellyfish.

The picture on the left shows it with a bright light on it so you can see it. The picture on the right shows what it would be like in the darkness of the deep sea where it lives. You can see it is practically invisible.

Light on

Light off

Here's another couple. First is the red belly jelly fish because it is red you'd think it would be easy to see right? Wrong it is completely invisible because red light doesn't make it down into the deep sea. The same applies to the moon jellyfishes stomachs. Because it is clear and it eats red plankton it's stomach often looks red. But again it can't be seen in the deep parts of the ocean.

This funny looking creature is called the sideways fish. It's sandy colour is perfect for blending in with the ocean floor.