THE STONEFISH

The Stonefish is a master of camouflage, which makes it even more dangerous, as people often get to close without realizing it. They can be found on the sea bottom and around coral reefs, disguised as rocks. The Stonefish is the most poisonous fish in the world. It has 13 spikes on its back, all filled with extremely potent, protein-based venom. Depending on how deep the sting is, this venom can kill a person in a few hours unless he receives medical attention.

Getting stung by a Stonefish causes excruciating pain, shock and paralysis. Surviving victims of Stonefish encounters have been known to suffer nerve damage which leads to muscle atrophy.

CUTTLEFISH

A six-month-old captive European Cuttlefish

The cuttlefish is an ambush predator and a master of disguise. Its skin is covered with special cells called chromatophores, iridophores and leucophores that reflect light in many different colours enabling the cuttlefish to blend into its background almost perfectly. Some say it's like a chameleon but it is far superior in its ability to change colour and even the texture of its skin!

cuttlefish camouflaged...

Here, a cuttlefish lurking on the seafloor.

here's a cuttlefish on ocean floor

If you can’t see the cuttlefish in the photo BELOW, then it’s doing a GOOD JOB

A giant cuttlefish (Sepia apama), photographed off the south Australian coast, retires to the ocean floor at night, employing complex camouflage strategies to blend in with the sand and hide from predators

Disruptive body patterning by a young cuttlefish on a rocky

substratum. Notice the strongly expressed ‘White square’ chromatic

component on the mantle of the animal that resembles other randomly

scattered white rocks amidst the substratum.

the best one...

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LEAF MIMIC FROG...

Can you find the leaf mimic frog? Leaf mimicry isn’t exclusive to insects, since some vertebrates make use of this extreme form of camouflage.

This robust ghost pipefish (Solenostomus cyanopterus) mimics a blade of sea grass, and rests at an angle similar to the South American leaf fishes above. Ghost pipefishes are relatives of pipefishes and seahorses and display some of the best camouflage found in nature.

Dead leaf butterflies are extraordinary creatures to observe up close. The specimen below illustrates the intricate details chiseled out by adaptation through natural selection, which is a driving force of evolution. The remarkable details help the butterfly evade predation by mimicking a dead leaf.

This small cryptic-looking "decorator crab" appears to have mastered the art of disguise by attaching various anemones and coral polyps to its exoskeleton. Notice its greenish-colored eye at the end of its eye stalk (view of the crab's left side). A slow mover, even when approached, it seems to have complete confidence in its ability to remain inconspicuous. This particular specimen is about 1 inch in height. The alternate black and white bands on its legs distinguish this decorator crab from other, similar species.

Though not exactly the same as the crab in the previous frame, this spider crab has truly earned the title of "decorator". Though there appears to be too much extra weight for this small crab to lug around, it probably has an easier time than a typical hermit, which carries a heavy abandoned shell with it everywhere it goes.

Sea Dragons are arguably the most spectacular and mysterious of all ocean fish. Though close relatives of sea horses, sea dragons have larger bodies and leaf-like appendages which enable them to hide among floating seaweed or kelp beds. Sea dragons feed on larval fishes and amphipods, such as and small shrimp-like crustaceans called mysids ("sea lice"), sucking up their prey in their small mouths. Many of these amphipods feed on the red algae that thrives in the shade of the kelp forests where the sea dragons live.

As with their smaller common seahorse (and pipefish) cousins, the male sea dragon carries and incubates the eggs until they hatch. During mating the female deposits up to 250 eggs onto the "brood patch" on the underside of the male's tail. After about eight weeks, the brood hatches, but in nature only about 5 per cent of sea dragons survive to maturity (two years). A fully grown Leafy Sea Dragon grows to about 18 inches (45 cm).

Leafy Sea Dragons are very interesting to watch-- the leafy appendages are not used for movement. The body of a sea dragon scarcely appears to move at all. Steering and turning is through movement of tiny, translucent fins along the sides of the head (pectoral fins, visible above) and propulsion derives from the dorsal fins (along the spine). Their movement is as though an invisible hand were helping, causing them to glide and tumble in peculiar but graceful patterns in slow-motion. This movement appears to mimic the swaying movements of the seaweed and kelp. Only close observation reveals movement of an eye or tiny fins.

Most sources of information about sea dragons say they are found in the ocean waters of southern Western Australia, South Australia and further east along the coastline of Victoria province, Australia. Sea dragons are protected under Australian law, and their export is strictly regulated. A 1996 assessment by the Australian government's Department of Environmental Heritage indicates "It [the Leafy Sea Dragon] is now completely protected in South Australia because demand for aquarium specimens threatened the species with extinction." Currently the specific law which protects them is called the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. For a February 2002 updated overview of the leafy sea dragon, see this page from the Department of Environmental Heritage site.

The top image, the four images below on the left and on the bottom row are digital still camera images. The wallpaper images represented below are from video captures. Below these, three of the digital movies are 320 x 240 versions from the video, 10 frames/second with titles and sound. The fourth is 352 x 240 in size, 3.5 megabytes, with music, showing three camera views of a Leafy Sea Dragon. The fifth clip is most recent, a full 11.7 megabytes, with 27 seconds of 352 x 240 MPEG-1 video of Leafy Sea Dragons and music

Chameleons are the classic color-changers: all species of chameleons can shift their appearance to different degrees, collectively able to turn pink, blue, red, orange, yellow, green, black and brown and combination thereof. Unlike many color-changing creatures, chameleons are thought to mainly change in order to communicate with others of their species and to make themselves more attractive to mates – as opposed to using their ability for offense or defense.

More than mere color-changers, Mimic Octopi are also shape-shifters that can adapt their movements and the arrangement of their parts to appear as up to 15 different oceanic species “including sea snakes, lionfish, flatfish, brittle stars, giant crabs, sea shells, stingrays, flounders, jellyfish, sea anemones, and mantis shrimp.” This remarkable octopus species determines threats and reacts by appearing as a predator to their own predators.

The flounder at first appear as rather ungainly-looking bottom-feeding flat fish, but has the amazing ability to adapt their appearance to their environment in search of prey along the ocean floor. To further aid their stealth, their second eye actually migrates to one side of their body (left or right depending on the species) as they get older. This enables them to cruise along parallel to the ground below them (essentially on their side) and still look up and forward. Further, these industrious creatures have even (surprisingly) been found at the bottom of deepest location on the Earth’s crust – the Mariana Trench – at depths of 35,000 feet.

Can you spot the animals in the images above? The lizard blends so perfectly it is hard to see even when pointed out. The ability to change color seems like an animal superpower at times – some of them can alter their appearance to blend with the colors, materials and textures of virtually any surroundings. For some this ‘costume change’ happens quickly, for others it is seasonal – for many it helps them avoid predators, for a few it enables them to sneak up on prey. Culled from around the animal kingdom, here are seven of most impressive color-changing species in the world.