Stunning Photos of Animals you’ve probably never seen before 1 – Frilled shark This is a frilled shark. Frilled sharks are found throughout deep waters in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is often described as a “living fossil” because of its resemblance to extinct, Paleozoic sharks. They’re rarely seen alive because of their preference for deep water. A dying one was captured near the surface in Japan in 2007. 2 – Red cap goldfish    A red cap goldfish, or “oranda”. These are characterized by a prominent hood that covers the head — which let’s face it, looks like their brains are on show. Originally from China, they are popular aquarium pets today. 3 – Promachoteuthis sulcus Meet Promachoteuthis sulcus, a bizarre creature straight out of your nightmares. As you can see, this thing looks like it has freakishly human looking teeth. They’re actually just flaps of skin, but they’re still pretty unnerving! It’s a species of promachoteuthid squid and only one specimen has been found to date. It was captured in the Southern Atlantic Ocean at a depth of 2,000m in 2007. 4 – Crocodile Fish This is a white-blooded ice fish, or “crocodile fish” (Chaenocephalus aceratus). They lack both red blood cells and hemoglobin, and so have white blood. They have translucent bodies, and absorb oxygen directly from the water around them. 5 – Amber phantom butterfly The amber phantom butterfly (Haetera piera), found in the Guianas, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Venezuela. 6 – The Pistol Shrimp The pistol shrimp is the NOISIEST creature in the ocean. Colonies of them make a distinct snapping noise that overshadows nearly all other sounds throughout the world’s oceans, including the calls of some whales. In fact, they are so loud, their snapping sounds interfere with military and scientific sonar (so much so, that hostile submarines have used large colonies of pistol shrimps to hide). 7 – Lion’s Mane Jellyfish The Lions Mane Jellyfish is the largest jellyfish in the world. They have been swimming in arctic waters since before the dinosaurs (over 650 million years ago) and are among some of the oldest surviving species in the world. The bell can grow up to 8 feet in diameter with hundreds of tentacles up to 120 feet long. Remarkably, only 6% of the jellyfish is solid matter; the rest is water. 8 – Blue footed booby Meet the blue footed booby, found from the Gulf of California down along the western coasts of Central and South America to Peru. Their bright blue feet are a sexually selected trait. The brighter a males feet, the more attractive he is to a female. To attract a female, they have an elaborate dancing ritual to display their feet, first lifting one foot and then the other. 9 – The Cardinal Gynandromorph No, this isn’t photoshopped. This is a cardinal “gynandromorph” – an animal that exhibits both female and male sexual characteristics. As different sexes are differently coloured, each half of the bird is a different shade. 10 – The Mexican walking fish. “Walking fish” is a pretty general term used to describe any fish that is able to travel over land. Ironically, the Mexican walking fish isn’t a fish at all, but an amphibian. It’s official name is axolotl and as the name suggests, it’s found in Mexico. 11 – Amazon milk frog The Amazon milk frog, a large species of arboreal frog native to the Amazon Rainforest in South America. 12 – Glass frogs Glass frogs, a group of South and Central American frogs with translucent skin. Their internal viscera, including the heart, liver, and gastrointestinal tract are all completely visible. 13 – Yeti crab This is the yeti crab (Kiwa hirsuta). Only discovered in 2005, the yeti crab lives in the South Pacific Ocean and grows to around 15cm long. Discovered at a depth of 2,200 metres (7,200 ft), it lives on hydrothermal vents. Based on both morphology and molecular data, the organism was deemed to form a new biological family, which was named Kiwaidae. A second species in the family was described in 2011. The “hairy” claws of the yeti crab contain filamentous bacteria, which the creature may use to convert carbon molecules emitted by the hydrothermal vents into nutrients. This is a process known as chemosynthesis. It may also consume bacteria. 14 – Alarm jellyfish This is the alarm jellyfish (Atolla Wyvillei) – and it has a rather unique defence mechanism. When the alarm jellyfish is attacked, it flashes brightly using bioluminescence in an attempt to attract other animals. The idea is to encourage confusion and fights between predators, while the jellyfish can swim away. 15 – Nembrotha cristata This is Nembrotha cristata, a colourful sea-slug found in the tropical Indo-West Pacific Ocean. They grow to about 50mm in length and have black bodies with a strange luminous green “trim”. Like most nudibranchs, they deliver a painful sting. They do not produce the stinging cells themselves but incorporate them into their own tissues from their prey, stinging jellyfish. 16 – Leatherback Sea Turtle The Leatherback Sea Turtle is the largest turtle in the world, weighing approximately 900kg. Contrary to appearance, the leatherback doesn’t actually have a shell. What looks like a shell is in fact a leathery skin supported by small bones. This gives it a flexibility that a solid shell would not provide, allowing it to dive to astonishing depths. 17 -Pink Bottlenose Dolphin 18 – Hermit Crab 19 – Purple frogs 20 – Satanic Leaf Tailed Gecko 21 – Rare Albino Alligator 22 – One of the few albino whales on earth 23 – Stunning Albino Bengal Tiger 24 – Incredibly rare albino giraffe 25 – Pink fairy armadillo! 26 – Tube-nosed fruit bat This creature was found just a few years ago, and doesn’t even have an official name yet. Supposedly well-known for being the animal that most looks like Yoda… 27 – King of Saxony bird of paradise 28 – Indian Bull Frog Found in Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan and of course India.The Indian bullfrog is renowned for its large size (some can be up to 15cm in length!) and dramatic coloring. 29 – Albino Lion 30 – Friendly Albino Gorilla 31 – Theridion grallator – the happy faced spider. 32 – Red-Lipped Batfish!

 

 

 

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