Most people, when they think of diving and marine life, they imagine lots of colorful fishes with different patterns and different shapes. However, there is more than only those fishes and marine life is full of species that are the best in camouflaging, you’re sometimes not even able to notice them. Below you will find 10 sea creatures with the most amazing camouflage.
1. Frogfish
With about 46 species, frogfishes can be found in almost all tropical and subtropical oceans around the world. However, they are very hard to spot since they are excellent in camouflaging and adapting to their surroundings. Reason for that is that they are able to take on different colours during their life cycle. To not stand out from their surroundings they usually move very slow, lie very still waiting for prey and strike extremely rapid.
2. Mimic Octopus
The mimic octopus is an octopus which is capable of impersonating many other sea creatures. They do this in order to be left alone by their predators. Examples of the impersonated creatures are sea snakes, lionfish, jellyfish, brittle stars and some more. This brown octopus with white stripes or spots, which helps them blend well in their surroundings, can be found in South-East Asia.
3. Stonefish
Its name already suggests how the stonefish looks like. By its excellent colour match and the ability to sit perfectly still on the bottom of the sea, they are rarely seen by their prey, predator or scuba divers since they look like part of coral and rocky reefs. Not only are they able to blend very well into their surroundings, they are also very poisonous. In fact, their poison is capable of killing their biggest and strongest predators and it’s even able to kill an adult person in less than one hour.
4. Leaf Fish
Leaf fishes are south american fishes which can be found in shallow waters with little to no flow in areas where fallen leaves collect so they can blend in well. Even when swimming they look like drifting leaves waiting for their prey. And as small as they are, they are very capable of surviving due to their large heads, well camouflaging colour and big mouths with which they can eat prey almost as big as they are.
5. Decorator Crab
The decorator crab is not only one species of crab, but they are several different species of crab using the same way of camouflage. They do this by sticking materials from their environment such as other animals and plants on their body. All this to blend into the surrounding and hide from their predators.
6. Flounder
Flatfish are species that live on their side on the bottom of the ocean. For this reason both eyes grow on one side of the head, either the left or the right side. These creatures which are almost always hidden underneath the sand, change colour depending to their environment. They do this to hide from their predators and in the meantime they eat the prey passing by.
7. Robust Ghost Pipefish
Depending on their background, robust ghost pipefish may be grey, brown, pink, yellow or green with small white and black dots. To blend in the best they can, they will mostly be near algae or seagrass beds. Besides this, robust ghost pipefishes are extremely seasonal, which means they will be only findable for a few months a year. These months are those where the water is the warmest.
8. Leafy Sea Dragon
The leafy sea dragon is a sea creature that mostly will be found the Australian south and west coast areas. With leaf shaped protrusions attached to their bodies, which in fact don’t have any purpose but to camouflage, they can blend in perfectly with seaweed and kelp formations living in their surrounding. Moving from one place to the other they use two fins alongside their heads and swim very slowly leaving the impression they are floating seaweed.
9. Stargazer Fish
The stargazer, also known as king of camouflage, can be found living worldwide in deep waters as well as shallow waters. Being able to bury themselves very rapidly in the sand, leaving only their eyes and mouth uncovered, the are very good in ambushing their predators. Besides this they have a lure they use to attract prey within striking distance, they feed on soft organisms such as fish, cuttlefish and octopus.
10. Cuttlefish
The cuttlefish is a creature that uses its ability to camouflage to attract prey and hide from predators. With the skill of changing their colour, shape or texture, they are very well at blending in their surrounding. They could look like any other fishes, rocks, plants and sand. Cuttlefishes are even able to pretend to be one of the other gender in case they feel unsafe to pass one another.
