Why do fish live on large. Why do fish swim in a flock

Interesting 09.06.2019

Interesting

The seas and oceans occupy more than half of the area of our planet, but they are still shrouded in secrets for mankind. We strive to conquer space and are looking for extraterrestrial civilizations, but at the same time, only 5% of the world's oceans have been explored by people. But even these data are enough to be horrified by what creatures live deep under water, where sunlight does not penetrate.

The Howliod family has 6 species of deep-sea fish, but the most common of them is the common Howliod. These fish live in almost all waters of the world's oceans, with the exception of the cold waters of the northern seas and the Arctic Ocean.

The chaulioids got their name from the Greek words "chaulios" - open mouth, and "odous" - tooth. Indeed, in these relatively small fish (about 30 cm long), teeth can grow up to 5 centimeters, which is why their mouth never closes, creating a terrible grin. Sometimes these fish are called sea vipers.

Howliods live at a depth of 100 to 4000 meters. At night, they prefer to rise closer to the surface of the water, and during the day they descend into the very abyss of the ocean. Thus, during the day, fish make huge migrations of several kilometers. With the help of special photophores located on the body of the howliod, they can communicate in the dark with each other.

On the dorsal fin of the viperfish there is one large photophore, with which it lures its prey directly to the mouth. After that, with a sharp bite of needle-sharp teeth, howliodas paralyze the prey, leaving it no chance of salvation. The diet mainly consists of small fish and crustaceans. According to unreliable data, some individuals of howliods can live up to 30 years or more.

The longhorn sabertooth is another fearsome deep-sea predatory fish found in all four oceans. Although the sabertooth looks like a monster, it grows to a very modest size (about 15 centimeters in a dyne). The head of a fish with a large mouth occupies almost half the length of the body.

The long-horned sabertooth got its name from the long and sharp lower fangs, which are the largest in relation to the length of the body among all fish known to science. The terrifying appearance of the sabertooth earned him an unofficial name - "monster fish".

The color of adults can vary from dark brown to black. Young representatives look completely different. They have a light gray color and long spikes on their heads. The sabertooth is one of the deepest-sea fish in the world, in rare cases they descend to a depth of 5 kilometers or more. The pressure at these depths is enormous, and the water temperature is near zero. There is catastrophically little food here, so these predators hunt for the first thing that gets in their way.

The size of the deep-sea dragon fish absolutely does not fit with its ferocity. These predators, which reach a length of no more than 15 centimeters, can eat prey two or even three times its size. Dragon fish lives in the tropical zones of the oceans at a depth of up to 2000 meters. The fish has a large head and a mouth equipped with many sharp teeth. Like the Howliod, the dragonfish has its own prey bait, which is a long, photophore-tipped whisker located on the chin of the fish. The principle of hunting is the same as that of all deep-sea individuals. With the help of a photophore, a predator lures the victim to the closest possible distance, and then inflicts a deadly bite with a sharp movement.

The deep-sea angler is rightfully the ugliest fish in existence. In total, there are about 200 species of anglerfish, some of which can grow up to 1.5 meters and weigh up to 30 kilograms. Because of the terrible appearance and bad temper, this fish was nicknamed the sea-devil. Deep-sea anglerfish live everywhere at a depth of 500 to 3000 meters. The fish has a dark brown color, a large flat head with many spikes. The devil's huge mouth is studded with sharp and long teeth, curved inwards.

Deep-sea anglerfish have pronounced sexual dimorphism. Females are ten times larger than males and are predators. The females have a rod with a fluorescent protrusion at the end to lure fish. Anglers spend most of their time on seabed burrowing into sand and silt. Due to the huge mouth, this fish can swallow whole prey, exceeding its size by 2 times. That is, hypothetically, a large anglerfish can eat a person; Fortunately, there have never been such cases in history.

Probably the strangest inhabitant sea depths you can call the bagworm or, as it is also called, the large mouth of the pelican. Due to its abnormally huge mouth with a bag and a tiny skull in relation to the length of the body, the baghort looks more like some kind of alien creature. Some individuals can reach two meters in length.

In fact, sac-like fish belong to the class of ray-finned fish, but there are not too many similarities between these monsters and cute fish that live in warm sea backwaters. Scientists believe that appearance of these creatures has changed many thousands of years ago due to the deep-sea way of life. Baghorts do not have gill rays, ribs, scales and fins, and the body has an oblong shape with a luminous process on the tail. If it were not for the large mouth, then the sackcloth could easily be confused with an eel.

Mesh shorts live at depths from 2000 to 5000 meters in three world oceans, except for the Arctic. Since there is very little food at such depths, sackworms have adapted to long breaks in food intake, which can last more than one month. These fish feed on crustaceans and other deep-sea counterparts, mostly swallowing their prey whole.

The elusive giant squid, known to science as Architeuthis Dux, is the largest mollusk in the world and can supposedly reach a length of 18 meters and weigh half a ton. On the this moment a living giant squid has not yet fallen into human hands. Before 2004, there were no documented sightings of live giant squid at all, and the general idea of these mysterious creatures formed only by the remains thrown ashore or caught in the nets of fishermen. Architeutis live at a depth of up to 1 kilometer in all oceans. In addition to their gigantic size, these creatures have the largest eyes among living beings (up to 30 centimeters in diameter).

So in 1887, the largest specimen in history, 17.4 meters long, was thrown onto the coast of New Zealand. In the following century, only two large dead representatives of the giant squid were found - 9.2 and 8.6 meters. In 2006, the Japanese scientist Tsunemi Kubodera still managed to capture on camera a live female 7 meters long in natural environment habitat at a depth of 600 meters. The squid was lured to the surface by a small bait squid, but an attempt to bring a live individual aboard the vessel was unsuccessful - the squid died from numerous injuries.

Giant squid are dangerous predators, and the only natural enemy for them are adult sperm whales. There are at least two reported cases of squid and sperm whale fighting. In the first, the sperm whale won, but soon died, suffocated by the giant tentacles of the mollusk. The second fight took place off the coast of South Africa, then a giant squid fought with a baby sperm whale, and after an hour and a half fight, he still killed the whale.

The giant isopod known to science as Bathynomus giganteus is largest view crustaceans. The average size deep-sea isopod ranges from 30 centimeters, but the largest recorded specimen weighed 2 kilograms and was 75 centimeters long. In appearance, giant isopods are similar to woodlice, and, like the giant squid, are the result of deep-sea gigantism. These crayfish live at a depth of 200 to 2500 meters, preferring to burrow into the silt.

The body of these terrible creatures is covered with hard plates that act as a shell. In case of danger, crayfish can curl into a ball and become inaccessible to predators. By the way, isopods are also predators and can eat a few small deep-sea fish and sea cucumbers. Powerful jaws and strong armor make the isopod a formidable foe. Although giant crayfish love to eat live food, they often have to eat the remains of shark prey that fall from the upper layers of the ocean.

The coelacanth or coelacanth is a large deep-sea fish whose discovery in 1938 was one of the most important zoological finds of the 20th century. Despite its unattractive appearance, this fish is notable for the fact that for 400 million years it has not changed its appearance and body structure. In fact, this unique relic fish is one of the oldest living creatures on planet Earth, which existed long before the advent of dinosaurs.

Latimeria lives at a depth of up to 700 meters in the waters of the Indian Ocean. The length of the fish can reach 1.8 meters with a weight of more than 100 kilograms, and the body has a beautiful blue tint. Since the coelacanth is very slow, it prefers to hunt at great depths, where there is no competition from faster predators. These fish can swim backwards or belly up. Despite the fact that the meat of the coeliant is inedible, it is often the object of poaching among local residents. Currently ancient fish is under threat of extinction.

The deep-sea goblin shark, or as it is also called the goblin shark, is the most poorly understood shark to date. This species lives in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean at a depth of up to 1300 meters. The largest specimen was 3.8 meters long and weighed about 200 kilograms.

The goblin shark got its name due to its creepy appearance. Mitzekurin has mobile jaws that move outward when bitten. The goblin shark was first accidentally caught by fishermen in 1898, and since then 40 more specimens of this fish have been caught.

Another relic representative of the sea abyss is a one-of-a-kind detritophage cephalopod, which has an external resemblance to both squid and octopus. Own unusual name the infernal vampire received thanks to the red body and eyes, which, however, depending on the lighting, can be blue color. Despite their terrifying appearance, these strange creatures grow only up to 30 centimeters and, unlike other cephalopods, eat only plankton.

The hellish vampire's body is covered in luminous photophores, which create bright flashes of light that scare away enemies. In case of exceptional danger, these small mollusks twist their tentacles along the body, becoming like a ball with spikes. Hellish vampires live at depths of up to 900 meters, and can perfectly exist in water with an oxygen level of 3% or less, which is critical for other animals.

1. The fastest moving animals live in an environment:

a) ground-air;
b) underground (soil);
c) water;
d) in living organisms.

2. Name the largest animal that has ever existed (and still exists) on Earth. What environment does it live in? Why can't such large animals arise and exist in other habitats?
(Answer: blue whale. AT aquatic environment buoyant (Archimedean) force allows you to significantly compensate for the force of gravity.)

3. Explain why in ancient times warriors determined the approach of enemy cavalry by putting their ear to the ground.
(Answer: the conductivity of sound in a dense medium (soil, earth) is higher than in air.)

4. Ichthyologists face significant challenges in preserving deep-sea fish for museums. Raised on the deck of the ship, they literally words explode. Explain why this is happening.
(Answer: enormous pressure is created at great ocean depths. In order not to be crushed, organisms living in these conditions must have the same pressure inside their body. When quickly rising to the surface of the ocean, they are "crushed from the inside" . )

5. Explain why deep sea fish have either reduced or hypertrophied (enlarged) eyes.
(Answer: very little light penetrates to great depths. Under these conditions, the visual analyzer must either be very sensitive, or it becomes unnecessary - then vision is compensated by other sense organs: smell, touch, etc.)

6. If you mix water, sand, inorganic and organic fertilizers, will this mixture be soil?
(Answer: no, because the soil must have a certain structure and must include living beings.)

7. Fill in the gaps by choosing one word from the pair in brackets.

(Answer: not threatening, weak, aggressive, have, do not have, do not have, do not have, great.)

8*. In what habitats do animals have the simplest structure of the hearing organ (it is necessary to compare closely related groups of animals)? Why? Does this prove that animals in these environments have poor hearing?
(Answer: in soil and water. This is due to the fact that the sound conductivity in these dense media is the best. The mere organization of the hearing organs of these animals does not prove that they are hard of hearing. Better propagation of a sound wave in a dense medium can compensate for the poor organization of the hearing organs.)

9. Explain why permanently aquatic mammals (whales, dolphins) have much more powerful insulating covers (subcutaneous fat) than terrestrial animals living in harsh and cold conditions. For comparison: the temperature of salt water does not fall below -1.3 ° C, and on the land surface it can drop to -70 ° C.)
(Answer: Water has a much higher thermal conductivity and heat capacity than air. A warm object in water will cool (give off heat) much faster than in air.)

10*. In the spring, many people burn last year's withered grass, justifying this by saying that fresh grass will grow better. Ecologists, on the contrary, argue that this should not be done. Why?
(Answer: the opinion that new grass grows better after it has fallen is due to the fact that young seedlings seem more friendly and green against the black background of the ashes than among withered grass. However, this is nothing more than an illusion. In fact, during the fall, many shoots of young plants are charred and their growth slows down. The fire kills millions of insects and other invertebrates that live in the litter and grassy layer, and destroys the clutches of birds nesting on the ground. Normally, the organic matter that makes up the withered grass decomposes and gradually passes into the soil. During a fire, they burn out and turn into gases that enter the atmosphere. All this disrupts the cycle of elements in this ecosystem, its natural balance. In addition, burning last year's grass regularly leads to fires: forests, wooden buildings, poles of power supply and communication lines are burning.)

Often, fish are credited with exceptional intelligence. They tell "hunting stories" about pikes and ides that can open the lids of cages. About breams, which, having risen through the forest to the surface of the water and seeing the fisherman, immediately disappear into the depths. About “smart” carp, - such a smart guy will knock the nozzle off the hook with his tail and calmly regale on it. About "cunning" perch, driving away their less smart comrades from the hook.

Most of these stories are the product of the imagination of the tellers, but there are examples that seem to confirm the meaningful actions of the fish.

Don't the long journeys of salmon in search of spawning grounds seem smart to us? Or the protection of offspring observed in the stickleback? Or the way the archer gets food? This fish, releasing a stream of water from its mouth, knocks insects from the trees surrounding the pond and grabs them when they fall.

We also think that the behavior of fish that are wary of net traps, thick and rough forest fishermen, also seems to us smart. How to explain these "smart" actions of fish? It turns out that this has already been explained, and by none other than the great Russian physiologist I. P. Pavlov.

As a result of many experiments and observations, I. P. Pavlov discovered that two types of activity are inherent in all animals: unconditioned reflex and activity associated with conditioned reflexes. Unconditional reflex activity is inherent in animals "from birth", it has been developed over a long time and over many generations and consists of a chain of instinctive reactions of the body to the changes taking place around.

The primary role in the life of animals, including, of course, fish, is played by the food reflex.

The food reactions of fish are very diverse. Predatory fish feed on live prey, they are especially attracted to the movements of the prey. Try to place a dead bloodworm at the bottom of the aquarium with perches, the perches will not pay any attention to it. But it is worth throwing a live bloodworm into the aquarium, as the fish will rush to prey with the whole flock, and the bloodworm will go to the most agile. Equally indicative is the attitude of predators to artificial lures - spinners. Not a single predator will be tempted by a motionless lure, and the most catchy one will be the one that, moving, will most fully repeat the water vibrations created by a live fish.

Predators pay attention to the position of the prey. In some waters, pike grabs a dead fish planted on a hook. However, a pike will never catch a fish if it swims belly up or lies sideways on the bottom. Therefore, experienced anglers, before putting a dead fish on a hook, introduce an oblong piece of lead into its abdomen through its mouth. Then the fish, when catching on circles or on vents, will occupy the correct horizontal position in the water with its belly down.

In peaceful fish, the signal "food" is not only the type of object, but also the smell it emits.

Over the course of many generations, fish have developed the most expedient methods of hunting. Pike, perch are hardly noticeable among aquatic plants, and usually they hunt from ambush. Fast swimming fish - tuna, salmon - have adapted to catch up with prey. The archer also inherited his amazing way of hunting for insects from his ancestors.

The chain of innate reflexes associated with caring for offspring is very important for the preservation of the species. All fish instinctively spawn in the conditions in which it develops best. Therefore, some fish spawn in calm waters, others in rapids, and still others make long journeys in search of convenient spawning grounds.

In some fish, care for offspring goes even further: before spawning, salmon drive all fish from spawning grounds, and then bury their eggs in sand and pebbles. The catfish guard the eggs until the hatching of the fry, and the male stickleback builds a special nest for the eggs and guards the fry for the first time.

However, the parental instinct in fish does not last long. Even such a caring father as a male stickleback, as soon as the fry begin to feed on their own, becomes indifferent to them. Moreover, on occasion, he will not refuse to feast on his own children, like any other moving prey. So, sooner or later, most fish do, especially in captivity, where freedom is limited by the glass of the aquarium. Therefore, experienced aquarists monitor the fish and, as soon as the parental instinct begins to fade, they put the father and mother away. When breeding viviparous fish in the aquarium, the fry must be caught immediately, otherwise they may all be swallowed by the mother.

The desire of animals for freedom is also an unconditioned reflex. An animal caught in a trap, a bird caught in a snare, a fish entangled in the nets make every effort to free themselves.

The freedom reflex is very strong. A caged bird, or a fish just placed in an aquarium, often refuses to eat and sometimes even starves to death. One should not, of course, think that animals are bored in captivity and die from "longing for freedom." Animals are not people, and their actions should not be humanized. It's just that in these cases the freedom reflex is stronger than the food reflex.

The defensive reflex plays an important role in the life of animals. Pisces are afraid not only of obvious enemies, but are also suspicious of any unfamiliar objects. They can be frightened by the sight of an object, and the noise it makes, and its smell, and even the shadow that falls from it on the water. At various kinds fish caution is not equally developed. The most cautious of our fish should include carp, bream, trout, and the least - perch, burbot, pike.

From enemies, fish usually flee or hide. But there are those who try to scare the enemy. Pufferfish, kutkutya, at the sight of an enemy, swell and take the form of a ball; perch, ruff raise a spiny dorsal fin. Sometimes fish defend actively. Moray eel, if disturbed, can seriously injure even a person. In defense, the stingray wields its formidable daggers. The stickleback, protecting its nest, pricks enemies with needles. Fish with "power plants" at the slightest danger put them into action. Immediately rush to the attack, if they are disturbed, the males of the fighting fish. They fight fiercely with each other. In Siam, fighting fish are specially trained for public fights. Numerous spectators conclude, as at the races, a bet and reward the winner with loud applause.

An exploratory reflex, or the “What is this?” reflex, also helps animals avoid danger.

What is its essence?

Any animal, finding itself in an unfamiliar environment or seeing an unfamiliar object, looks closely, listens, sniffs, trying to determine if it is in any danger. But without approaching an unfamiliar object, you will not know what to expect from it. And the animal, overcoming fear, is trying to figure out the situation.

It was in view of this instinct of animals that Mine-Reid in one of his novels spoke about the following case. The hunter was running out of food, and he still had a long way to go across the prairies. At dawn, he noticed a herd of antelopes. How to get close to sentry animals if there is no shelter around? And the hunter found a way out. Approaching the antelopes at such a distance that they noticed him, he lowered himself on his hands, and with his legs began to make intricate pirouettes in the air. This unusual sight attracted the attention of the animals, the antelopes began to slowly approach the hunter. When they were within shooting range, the hunter jumped up, grabbed a gun from the ground and shot the nearest antelope.

So do the fish. Each spinning player had to watch how fish rush after the spinner much less than the bait itself. This is a manifestation of the research reflex. It is possible that the accumulation of some fish near a light bulb lowered under water is also a manifestation of this instinct.

It is possible that the approach of many fish to the sound is explained not by a food, but also by an exploratory reflex, which, after the fish has discovered prey, turns into a food one.

Instincts do not always remain constant. Apparently salmon once spawned in the ocean. But there were fewer enemies in the rivers, more favorable conditions for the maturation of eggs, and the instinct changed - salmon began to lay eggs in fast-flowing rivers.

Ladoga trout, like salmon, enters rivers for spawning. However, it always rises upstream. But the Ladoga trout, acclimatized in Lake Janis-Jarvi, descends to spawn in the Janis-Yoki River, which flows out of the lake. The instinct has changed because not a single river flows into Lake Janis-Järvi with spawning grounds convenient for lake trout.

Not so long ago, syrt from the Gulf of Finland rose to spawn in the Narova River and, after spawning, went back to the bay. After the construction of the dam on the Narova, part of the herd of syrti was cut off from the bay. Now the syrt has got used to the new conditions, it lives and breeds in the rivers Narova, Velikaya and in Lake Peipsi.

However, instincts do not always change when living conditions change. For example, the construction of a power plant on the Volkhov River closed the way for whitefish to their favorite spawning grounds and led to their almost complete extinction.

The actions of this animal, which are explained by the acquired experience, are classified by IP Pavlov as conditioned reflex activity. It turns out that, despite the primitive structure of the brain in fish, conditioned reflexes are developed in them rather quickly. Scientists have done many interesting experiments with fish. It is not difficult to repeat them to everyone who has an aquarium.

Hang a red bead on a thread in an aquarium - and the fish will definitely “try” it. Throw the fish's favorite food into the feeding corner at the same time. Repeat the experiment several times, and after a while the fish, pulling the bead, will rush to the stern corner, even if they are not offered food. Replace the red bead with a green bead, but do not feed the fish. The fish won't touch it. But you can retrain the fish - make them grab the green bead and refuse the red one.

Cut out two triangles from cardboard, one large, the other small. When feeding the fish, apply one triangle to the glass, and after feeding, the other. After some time, the fish will approach the triangle of the size that was applied to the glass during feeding; they will approach even if they are not given food, but they will not pay any attention to the second. Triangles can be replaced by letters of the alphabet, and the fish will soon learn to distinguish between them.

Or one more example. Among the atherines, which live mainly in tropical waters, there are fish that are bright red and almost colorless. So, they put pieces of tentacles of burning anemones into their mouths and put them into an aquarium with predatory fish. After predators tried atherine with anemone tentacles, they lost all interest in them. Introduced into the aquarium a few days later, the red fish, already without the "stuffing", remained untouched for a long time, while the uncolored slates were immediately eaten.

A conditioned reflex in fish can also be developed to sound. If fish are fed on a call, then soon they will come to the call even in the absence of food. Moreover, experiments have shown that fish can develop conditioned reflexes to sounds of different pitches. Callicht catfish were fed at one tone of sound, and at another they were hit on the nose with a stick. After some time, the catfish swam up, having heard the sound of the first tone, and having heard the second, they rushed to their heels and hid in the far corner of the aquarium.

The following experience clearly illustrates the importance of the acquired skills: an aquarium with a pike in it was partitioned off with glass and a live fish was allowed into the fenced off part. The pike immediately rushed to the fish, but, hitting the glass several times, stopped unsuccessful attempts. When the glass was taken out, the pike, taught by "bitter experience", no longer renewed its attempts to grab the fish.

Carefully takes the bait of a fish that has been on a hook or grabbed an inedible lure. That is why in remote waters, where the fish is “not familiar” with a person and a fishing rod, it takes the bait more boldly than in waters often visited by anglers. For the same reason, where there are many underwater hunters, it is difficult to approach the fish within a shot from a harpoon gun.

Since the caution of fish is associated with the experience they have acquired, it is natural that the older the fish, the more suspicious it is of any unfamiliar objects. Watch for a flock of chubs swimming near the bridge abutments. Closer to the surface, small chub are kept, and dark cigar-shaped silhouettes of large fish are visible deeper. Throw a grasshopper into the water - splash - and it disappears in the mouth of one of the large chub. Now pierce the grasshopper with a straw and throw it into the water again; a large chub will swim up, but will not take the bait, and only a small thing will wag the grasshopper with a straw sticking out of it.

In order for the fish to become wary of rough tackle, it does not have to be on the hook itself. Sharp throws of one hooked fish can frighten and alert the whole flock for a long time, causing a suspicious attitude towards the proposed bait. Sometimes fish use the experience gained by a neighbor. In this regard, the behavior of a shoal of bream surrounded by a seine is typical. First, finding themselves in the tone, the fish rush in all directions. But as soon as one of them, taking advantage of the uneven bottom, slips under the bowstring, the whole flock immediately rushes after him.

Now the behavior of the “cunning” perch, driving others away from the hook with a nozzle, is also clear. Obviously, he has already been on the hook and is wary of taking the bait, and others follow his example.

Observations of fish in the aquarium have confirmed that the fish really learn from the experience of a neighbor. The following experiment was made. The aquarium was divided in half by a glass partition and several tops were planted in one half. A red lamp was lit in the corner of the aquarium, the light of which attracted the fish. When approaching a light bulb, they received an electric shock and turned to flight. After several experiments, the fish scattered as soon as the red light flashed. Then other tops were planted in the second part of the aquarium. When the light bulb was lit, the newly planted fish, following the example of their neighbors, also ran away from the red light, although they had not previously received any electric shock. After ten experiments, the first batch of fish was dropped off, but the remaining ones retained a negative reflex to red light.

Usually, conditioned reflexes in fish do not persist for a long time, and they soon forget what they have “learned”. However, if the conditions under which the reflex arose are repeated from generation to generation, it can become congenital.

See how the telescope floats in the aquarium. He always turns in one direction, trying to swim in a circle. He developed a penchant for “circular swimming” because in China, the birthplace of telescopes, many generations of these fish were kept in vase aquariums.

In most rivers, the chub feeds on worms, insects and their larvae, plants, and small fish. But all sorts get into the Neva food waste, and the chub became almost omnivorous in it. Here he is caught with a bait, sticking a piece of sausage, cheese or even herring on a hook. In rivers located far from large cities, the chub will not touch such a nozzle. So a change in nutritional conditions led to the transformation of a temporary food reflex into a permanent one.

As you can see, the "mind", "wit" and "cunning" of fish are explained by an innate instinct and experience acquired during life.

V. B. Sabunaev "Entertaining ichthyology"
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1. Common Hauliod (Chauliodus sloani)

2. Longhorn sabertooth (Anoplogaster cornuta)

3. Dragonfish (Grammatostomias flagellibarba)

4. Deep sea anglerfish (Lophius piscatorius)

Deep-sea anglerfish have pronounced sexual dimorphism. Females are ten times larger than males and are predators. The females have a rod with a fluorescent protrusion at the end to lure fish. Anglerfish spend most of their time on the seabed, burrowing into sand and silt. Due to the huge mouth, this fish can swallow whole prey, exceeding its size by 2 times. That is, hypothetically, a large anglerfish can eat a person; Fortunately, there have never been such cases in history.

5. Saccopharyngiformes

Probably the strangest inhabitant of the sea depths can be called a bagworm or, as it is also called, a large-mouthed pelican. Due to its abnormally huge mouth with a bag and a tiny skull in relation to the length of the body, the baghort looks more like some kind of alien creature. Some individuals can reach two meters in length.

In fact, sac-like fish belong to the class of ray-finned fish, but there are not too many similarities between these monsters and cute fish that live in warm sea backwaters. Scientists believe that the appearance of these creatures has changed many thousands of years ago due to the deep-sea lifestyle. Baghorts do not have gill rays, ribs, scales and fins, and the body has an oblong shape with a luminous process on the tail. If it were not for the large mouth, then the sackcloth could easily be confused with an eel.

6. Giant squid (Architeuthis dux)

The elusive giant squid, known to science as Architeuthis Dux, is the largest mollusk in the world and can supposedly reach a length of 18 meters and weigh half a ton. At the moment, a live giant squid has not yet fallen into human hands. Until 2004, there were no documented cases of meeting with a live giant squid at all, and the general idea of \u200b\u200bthese mysterious creatures was formed only from the remains thrown ashore or caught in the nets of fishermen. Architeutis live at a depth of up to 1 kilometer in all oceans. In addition to their gigantic size, these creatures have the largest eyes among living beings (up to 30 centimeters in diameter).

So in 1887, the largest specimen in history, 17.4 meters long, was thrown onto the coast of New Zealand. In the following century, only two large dead representatives of the giant squid were found - 9.2 and 8.6 meters. In 2006, the Japanese scientist Tsunemi Kubodera still managed to capture on camera a live female 7 meters long in her natural habitat at a depth of 600 meters. The squid was lured to the surface by a small bait squid, but an attempt to bring a live individual aboard the vessel was unsuccessful - the squid died from numerous injuries.

Giant squids are dangerous predators, and the only natural enemy for them are adult sperm whales. There are at least two reported cases of squid and sperm whale fighting. In the first, the sperm whale won, but soon died, suffocated by the giant tentacles of the mollusk. The second fight took place off the coast of South Africa, then a giant squid fought with a baby sperm whale, and after an hour and a half fight, he still killed the whale.

7. Giant isopod (Bathynomus giganteus)

The giant isopod, known to science as Bathynomus giganteus, is the largest crustacean species. The average size of a deep-sea isopod ranges from 30 centimeters, but the largest recorded specimen weighed 2 kilograms and was 75 centimeters long. In appearance, giant isopods are similar to woodlice, and, like the giant squid, are the result of deep-sea gigantism. These crayfish live at a depth of 200 to 2500 meters, preferring to burrow into the silt.

8. Latimeria (Latimeria chalumnae)

9. Goblin shark or mitzekurina (Mitsukurina owstoni)

10. Infernal Vampire (Vampyroteuthis infernalis)

Another relic representative of the sea abyss is a one-of-a-kind detritophage cephalopod, which has an external resemblance to both squid and octopus. The infernal vampire got its unusual name due to the red body and eyes, which, however, depending on the lighting, can also be blue. Despite their terrifying appearance, these strange creatures grow up to only 30 centimeters and, unlike other cephalopods, eat only plankton.

today I propose to see what fish live on the bottom of the oceans, you know many of them, but I think it will be interesting for you to learn more about them. Who is too lazy to read everything is in the first video)))
hope you enjoy it!http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BU7dD-4sbKM

Footbalfish - fish "soccer ball"

Footbalfish is a family of deep-sea fish of the anglerfish order, found in tropical and subtropical waters of the world's oceans. For its rounded shape, resembling a ball, in English-speaking countries, the name “soccer ball fish” has stuck to the fish.

Like other anglerfishes, this family is characterized by pronounced sexual dimorphism - female fish are large, almost ideally spherical in shape. The length of an adult female can exceed 60 cm. Males, on the contrary, are very small - less than 4 cm, and the body is slightly elongated. Both males and females are dark in color - from reddish brown to completely black.

Footbalfish was first discovered at the beginning of the 20th century while searching for flounder habitats. The habitat of these anglers begins at a depth of 1000 m and below. The fish are not very mobile.

Meshkort

large deep-sea fish found in all oceans except the Arctic Ocean. Weakly studied.
Do not confuse the bagworm with the bagworm, which is much smaller in size and lives closer to the surface.

Meshkorot (lat. Saccopharynx) is the only known genus of deep-sea fish in the Meshkorot family. It lives at a depth of 2 to 5 km. Adult fish can reach 2 meters in length. Together with a huge mouth planted sharp teeth, a man sees a baghort as a real monster from the depths.
The body of the fish is cigar-shaped, with long tail, which can be 4 times the length of the body. The mouth is large, strong and flexible, with teeth recurved into the mouth. Some bones are missing in the skull of the fish, so it is easy for the sackworm to open its mouth almost 180 degrees. Even the gills are not like the gills of other fish, and are located not on the head, but on the belly. At great depths, there is not always enough food, so the fish have adapted to eat up for the future, swallowing food more than their own weight and size. Having eaten "to the eyeballs" a sackcloth can go without food for a long time.

Unicorn comb fish. unicorn crestfish

Unicorn crestfish is a very rare little-studied fish, found everywhere at a depth of 1000 m. It got its name from a horn-like growth on its head.
Crested fish (crestfish) are inhabitants of tropical waters living at great depths. They are characterized by the presence of a huge dorsal fin, extending from the head to the tip of the tail. All of them have an elongated thin silvery body. The main "attraction" of some crests is ink bags, which allow the fish to throw out a cloud of ink in case of danger, confusing predators and allowing the fish to retreat.

Sticktail (Stylophorus chordatus)

The sticktail (Stylophorus chordatus) is a deep-sea fish with an elongated body and a long caudal fin, which is 2/3 of the total length of the fish. It lives in the warm waters of the oceans.
The sticktail lives at a depth of 300-800 m. At night, the fish rises closer to the surface, and at night it returns. The height of daily migrations can be 300 meters.

wandtail pretty rare fish although there is no exact population data. The discovery of Stylophorus chordatus took place in 1791 by the English zoologist G. Shaw, but the next time the animal was in the hands of scientists happened only a century later.

coal fish

The sablefish is a deep-sea food fish found in the northern part of Pacific Ocean, including in Russia.
Coal lives on a muddy seabed at a depth of up to 2,700 m. Predatory - preys on small fish, jellyfish, cuttlefish and krill. It grows up to 120 cm. An adult can gain weight of 50 kg.

Coal fish is an object of commercial fishing. Fish is especially valued in Japan, where it is served in the most expensive restaurants in fried, baked and smoked form, used to make sushi.

Trippod fish (tripod fish)

Trippod fish (tripod fish) - deep-sea bottom fish, known for its long rays, on which it "stands" at the bottom.

The tripod fish is truly a unique fish. It has very long rays growing from the pectoral fins and tail. The fish rests on these rays when it "stands" at the bottom. The length of these rays can be 1 m, and the length of an adult fish is 30-37 cm. It lives in all oceans, with the exception of the Arctic, at great depths from 800 to 5,000 m.

Most of the time the tripod fish spends standing on its rays on the seabed.

Observations of the fish showed that the eyes of the Trippod fish are poorly developed and do not participate in the feeding process. In complete darkness, they would not have helped. The fish uses its long front pectoral fins to locate prey. They act like hands, constantly feeling the space around them. Having caught any object, and having determined that it is edible, the tripod fish sends it directly into the mouth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yOKdog8zbXw

Mistake

Mistakes are a family of deep-sea fish whose name comes from the Greek ophis, meaning snake. They are found in temperate and tropical waters of the oceans.

Bugs live near the bottom. Most of these fish were found at great depths of 2000 m and below. One of the bug species Abyssobrotula galatheae was caught on a record for bony fish depth - 8 370 m. in the deep-water trench "Puerto Rico" in the Atlantic Ocean.
Unlike their closest relatives - fish from the Brotula family, mistakes are not viviparous, but lay eggs. The appeared trifle grows close to the surface, merging with zooplankton numerous in the tropical region.
Let's look at some of the most interesting views wrong.
Abyssobrotula galatheae

Pink bug (Pink cusk-eel)

Giant Grenadier or Giant Grenadier

The giant grenadier or giant grenadier is a deep-sea fish from the cod-like order that lives only in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean. It has commercial value.
Giant grenadier is most often found in the cold waters washing Russia - the Sea of Okhotsk, the coast of Kamchatka, near the Kuril and Commander Islands. Here it is known as "small-eyed longtail" or "small-eyed grenadier", although in other countries it is generally accepted to call it a giant grenadier.

The size of the fish is really gigantic compared to other deep sea fish. Adults can reach 2 meters in height and weigh 20-30 kg. The maximum recorded age of an adult fish was 56 years, but it is believed that the giant grenadier can live even longer.

Lasiognathus - skillful angler

Lasiognathus is a fish from the genus of monkfish that lives in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Among ichthyologists, it is known under the unofficial name "skillful fisherman"

Lasiognathus got its nickname of the angler for a reason. This deep-sea fish has an almost real fishing rod with which it hunts other fish and invertebrates. It consists of a short fishing rod (basal bone), fishing line (a modified ray of the dorsal fin), a hook (large skin teeth) and a bait (luminous photophores). This gear is really amazing. In different subspecies of Lasoignatus, the structure of the rod can vary from short (up to the middle of the body) to long (exceeds the length of the body).

Sack swallower or black eater

The sac-throat is a deep-sea representative of the perciformes from the chiasmodes suborder. This small fish grows up to 30 cm in length and is found everywhere in tropical and subtropical waters.

This fish is called a bag-swallower for its ability to swallow prey, which is several times larger than itself. The fact is that it has a very elastic stomach, and there are no ribs in the stomach that would prevent the expansion of the fish. Therefore, he can easily swallow a fish four times longer than his height and 10 times heavier!

Macropinna microstoma is a fish with a transparent head.

Macropinna microstoma is a small deep-sea fish known for its transparent head, through which it sees with eyes located inside the soft tissues of the head. It lives in the cool waters of the Arctic and Pacific Oceans, at a depth of over 500 meters.

For the first time this fish was shown to the public quite recently, only in 2004. It was then that photographs of Macropinna microstoma were obtained. Before that, only zoologists showed interest in fish, who speculated about how this fish, with such a strange visual mechanism, is able to see at great depths in almost complete darkness. And is it capable at all? As we already know, in the case of other deep-sea fish, vision at such a depth does not matter much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RM9o4VnfHJU

sea bat

Sea bats are a family of deep-sea bottom fish that have adapted in a special way for life under high pressure. They practically do not know how to swim, moving along the bottom on their modified fins, which have become similar to the legs of land animals.

Sea bats live everywhere in the warm waters of the oceans, without swimming in the cold waters of the Arctic. As a rule, they all keep to depths of 200 - 1000 meters, but there are species of bats that prefer to stay closer to the surface, not far from the coast. A person is quite familiar with bats, which prefer surface waters.

sea slug

The sea slug is a deep-sea fish species that, together with the bassogigas, are the deepest-sea fish on the planet. In 1970, sea slugs were discovered at a depth of 8 km.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=w-Kwbp4hYJE

cycloton

Cycloton is a widespread medium-sized deep-sea fish of the Gonostomidae family. It occurs everywhere at depths from 200 to 2000 m. Cycloton - essential element food chain of various deep-sea and valuable commercial fish.

Cycloton is a fish that for most of its life drifts along with ocean currents, unable to resist them. Only occasionally do they make small vertical migrations.

Drop fish.

The blobfish is a deep-sea fish found in deep waters near Australia and Tasmania. It is extremely rare for humans and is considered critically endangered.
An adult fish grows up to 30 cm. It keeps at depths of 800 - 1,500 m. The body of the fish is a watery substance with a density less than that of water.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SyodDVT1A40

Opisthoproct.

Opisthoproct (Barreleye) is a deep-sea fish, also known as the "ghost fish". It's not big and very interesting fish. The scientific name Opisthoproctidae comes from the Greek opisthe ("for", "behind" and proktos ("anus").

Opisthoproct lives at great depths up to 2,500 m in all oceans, with the exception of the Arctic Ocean. Their appearance is peculiar and does not allow them to be confused with other deep-sea fish.

sabertooth

Sabretooth is a deep-sea fish that lives in tropical and temperate zones at a depth of 200 to 5,000 m. It grows up to 15 cm in length, reaching 120 g of body weight.

Saber teeth grow quite slowly. Scientists suggest that fish can reach 10 years of age.

Hatchet fish

Hatchet fish are deep-sea fish found in temperate and tropical waters of the world's oceans. They got their name for the characteristic appearance of the body, resembling the shape of an ax - a narrow tail and a wide "body-axe"
Most often hatchets can be found at depths of 200-600 m. However, it is known that they are also found at depths of 2 km.

Ghost shark or marine chimera

Marine chimeras are deep-sea fish, the oldest inhabitants among modern cartilaginous fish. distant relatives modern sharks.

Chimeras grow up to 1.5 m, however, in adults, half of the body is the tail, which is a long, thin and narrow part of the body.
These fish live at very great depths, sometimes exceeding 2.5 km.

deep sea anglerfish

The deep-sea anglerfish is a deep-sea fish from the anglerfish order. They live at great depths of the World Ocean, preferring to stay up to 3 km. from the surface of the water.

Female anglerfish feed on others deep sea dwellers- howliods, hatchet fish and

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