By na.QI.win
Axolotl
Axolotls are like the cute anime pet you never had but always wanted, because you saw it on a deck of Pokémon cards. Tack onto that the ability to completely regenerate any dangling limb, and you've got yourself a real live Tamigachi! Another cool thing about axolotls is that they stay in their larval state even into adulthood, when they start becoming sexually mature—talk about babies having babies! Maury Povitch would have a field day with these weird sea creatures. Which of course, only makes them weirder.
Leafy Sea Dragon
The Leafy Sea Dragon is one of the few sea creatures with its own built-in camouflage. The tiny fins that are used to propel our leafy friend forward are impossible to see, giving the illusion that you are merely watching some seaweed lazily float by (like an underwater plastic bag à laAmerican Beauty). So the next time you see a chunk of seaweed, notice the beauty of it, yes. But also notice that you may just be witnessing one of the weirdest sea creatures in the world.
Red-Lipped Batfish
This photogenic fish has red lips and fins made for walking the seafloor near the Galápagos Islands. The red-lipped batfish is one of some 60 species of batfishes, “flattened” from life on the seafloor and adapted to walk on modified pectoral and pelvic fins. Like other anglerfishes, batfishes also use a built-in fishing rod snout, equipped with a retractable appendage, to lure prey close to their lips—which, by the way, appear far less conspicuous without a photographer’s flash.
Christmas Tree Worm
Scientists found this strange creature at the Great Barrier Reef's Lizard Island and named it, aptly, the Christmas tree worm. One better might have been "fake plastic Christmas tree worm," but it's still a pretty good name. (Scientists also refer to it as Spirobranchus giganteus). The spiral "branches" are actually the worm's breathing and feeding apparatus. The worm itself lives in a tube, and it can withdraw its tree-like crowns if threatened.
Sea Cucumber
A sea cucumber floats in the waters of Bikini Atoll, once home to a series of infamous nuclear bomb tests. These echinoderms can grow to 6.5 feet (two meters) by feeding on tiny aquatic animals, algae, and even waste material. Sea cucumbers recycle food particles into fodder for bacteria much like worms do in soil. Though they are fairly simple animals, sea cucumbers do have one incredible defense mechanism—the ability to eject internal organs out of their anus and regenerate them later.
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