See the Kiwa Crab, Blobfish, and more!
1. Blobfish
This may not have been the sight that you were expecting, but it's hard to expect this. You might've heard of the blobfish, which was voted the ugliest animal in the world by the Ugly Animal Preservation Society. Before I continue, I would like to say that the Ugly Animal Preservation Society's mascot is a blobfish, so maybe they were a little biased. I don't know. Anyway, these slimy creatures have almost no bone or muscle, which makes it hard for these guys to hold themselves up. How do they do it? Well, the pressure in the water in which they reside in helps them support themselves. They just drift around. They're kind of like a balloon, if I do say so myself.
2. Kiwa Crabs
Personally, I don't think the name Kiwa Crab fits as much as its nickname, 'Yeti Crab.' Oh, well. Scientists and their tricky Greek and Latin scientific names. Well, the name Kiwa is the name of the Polynesian goddess of shellfish, but I still like the name Yeti better. But back to scientists that give things tricky names and stuff. Every living thing is categorized into these groups that represent living things, and it gets narrowed down to your genus and species. Basically your biology. The categories are Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species. You can remember that by saying "Dear King Phillip Came Over For Good Soup." Before I continue talking about the crab, I'm going to give an example. Us! Our Domain is Eukarya, Kingdom is Animalia, Phylum is Chordata, Class is Mammalia, Order is Primates, Family is Hominidae, Genus is Homo, Species is Sapiens. For some reason, you classify as both your Genus and Species because we are Homo Sapiens. Anyway, this animal introduced not just a new species, but a new genus, too! It was discovered in 2005, and was found blind. It was found by the Census of Marine Life near Easter Island on a vent that let out heated water in the earth's crust. Being still relatively new, I am almost certain that this will not be the last we will see from this living yeti, but it won't see us!
3. Stauroteuthis syrtensis
This incredible species of octopus is referred to as many different things. It may go by Biolumenescent Octopus or maybe Glowing Sucker Octopus, so don't be surprised if you see this animal called something else. And no, this creature is not out of some freakish horror movie or anything, though it may look that. Octopuses are not regularly lit up, but their friends the squid and cuttlefish will be more commonly found glowing. The light emited by the octopus comes from the little suckers on each of its tentacles. Researchers found out about these crazy octopuses and their bioluminescence in 1997, and they have been researched. Scientists still have not figured out the mystery of their shimmering suction cups, which could be used for mating or getting food. It could be something else entirely! Like I said, the scientists don't know.
Thanks for reading! We're going to be doing one of these every month, so keep an eye out for more surprising sea creatures!
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