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If this isn't the only entry on your flist about anglerfish, I will be excited!
I don't know, guys. I feel like while we've been. . . building civilizations or living in caves or trying not to be fish or whatever we've been doing for the last few millenia, anglerfish have just been busy developing ridiculously specialized and wacky little superpowers, among other things. To start with, there's the angling itself. They have little lures on their heads, fleshy growths called the esca. Not only does this attract fishes and tasty things when they wiggle it around, it also automatically triggers their jaws when it's touched, so they swallow their victims whole. Plus, its bones are thin and flexible, so they can distend their jaw and stomach to swallow things bigger than they are. And I think they can do weird tricks with their teeth? PLUS the ones that live in the super deep sea have developed a symbiotic relationship with luminscent bacteria that live in the esca to help attract prey. AND many of the ones that don't live in the dark can change color to camouflage with their environment with a lot of finesse, and are often fuzzy in a helpful way. Also, some of the bottom dwellers are called frogfish and have little feets with which they walk along the ocean floor. And I think some of them are jet powered?
Seriously, it's so. . . like. . . proactive. Most things are just sticking to the status quo, doing the best they can. Anglerfish are like "why just be a fish when you can be a walking, color-changing, glow-in-the-dark eating machine?"
I also thought they were the ugliest creatures ever but it turns out that frogfish are quite cute often! And sometimes just bizarre because they're so well camouflaged, and then you just see their faces. It's almost muppety. Like, check out the psychadelic frogfish. That does not look like a creature from nature! Seriously, what is up with these guys! I'm not sure, though, but the striated frogfish might be my favorite. Lookit his face!
But guys. Guys. I haven't even gotten to the craziest part yet, the thing that got me on this anglerfish safari. Reproduction. Oh my god. In most species of anglerfish, the male is this little parasite that can only mature by attaching himself to the female. They fuse, start sharing a circulatory system, and then, well. Then something happens that can only be described with the best sentence I've come across in a long time: "As this genetic Chimera matures, the males grow large testicles while the rest of their bodies atrophy."
The males just turn into parasitic testicles. First off, it seems very symbolic of something. Second off, it's completely hilarious - not from a feminist perspective, from a juvenile perspective. Third off, as if the female wasn't gross enough, she gets these horrible male atrophied testicle creatures hanging off her. What the hell. XD So gross! It's actually less gross closer up. And I'm loving this artist's interpretation.
Wikipedia explains how this was discovered: "When scientists first started capturing ceratioid anglerfish, they noticed that all of the specimens were females. These individuals were a few inches in size and almost all of them had what appeared to be parasites attached to them. It turned out that these 'parasites' were the remains of male ceratioids." Again, I find this hilarious. And kind of creepy, or something, you know? Sort of "Soylent green is people!" But instead "The parasites are testicles!!"
Seriously, it's so. . . like. . . proactive. Most things are just sticking to the status quo, doing the best they can. Anglerfish are like "why just be a fish when you can be a walking, color-changing, glow-in-the-dark eating machine?"
I also thought they were the ugliest creatures ever but it turns out that frogfish are quite cute often! And sometimes just bizarre because they're so well camouflaged, and then you just see their faces. It's almost muppety. Like, check out the psychadelic frogfish. That does not look like a creature from nature! Seriously, what is up with these guys! I'm not sure, though, but the striated frogfish might be my favorite. Lookit his face!
But guys. Guys. I haven't even gotten to the craziest part yet, the thing that got me on this anglerfish safari. Reproduction. Oh my god. In most species of anglerfish, the male is this little parasite that can only mature by attaching himself to the female. They fuse, start sharing a circulatory system, and then, well. Then something happens that can only be described with the best sentence I've come across in a long time: "As this genetic Chimera matures, the males grow large testicles while the rest of their bodies atrophy."
The males just turn into parasitic testicles. First off, it seems very symbolic of something. Second off, it's completely hilarious - not from a feminist perspective, from a juvenile perspective. Third off, as if the female wasn't gross enough, she gets these horrible male atrophied testicle creatures hanging off her. What the hell. XD So gross! It's actually less gross closer up. And I'm loving this artist's interpretation.
Wikipedia explains how this was discovered: "When scientists first started capturing ceratioid anglerfish, they noticed that all of the specimens were females. These individuals were a few inches in size and almost all of them had what appeared to be parasites attached to them. It turned out that these 'parasites' were the remains of male ceratioids." Again, I find this hilarious. And kind of creepy, or something, you know? Sort of "Soylent green is people!" But instead "The parasites are testicles!!"