Hey, it's me! Varsha. I couldn`t write due to online classes and other reasons. But I am back. For this mistake, I will be posting every Sunday at 10:00am[IST]
Today it is about frogfishes, what`s amazing about them is you will see
Frogfish are any members of the family Antennariidae, a type of anglerfish that includes about 50 species.
They have modified pectoral fins that resemble legs, which allow them to “walk” along the ocean floor looking for prey.
They are found in the warm oceans of the Indian and Pacific oceans.
Frogfish are masters of disguise—they use various types of camouflage to hide from predators and sneak up on prey.
The Commerson’s frogfish can change its colours to mimic colourful sponges.
The Psychedelic frogfish has colourful stripes that represent rocky coral.
Now comes my favourite, the hairy frogfish which has long, waving appendages that can resemble algae or even a spiny urchin.
What if the prey does not come near, they have another trick up their sleeve[or fins]. They have a dangling lure, which is a type of modified fin called an illicium, that acts as a fishing rod for prey. It resembles a worm or shrimp that looks very tasty to other fish and crustaceans. when they come near to eat the shrimp[lure] the frogfish eats it.
Now comes the best part The frogfish can swallow fish, that are larger in size than themselves. It lowers its lower jaw and expands its upper jaw to expand the mouth, then it sucks the prey in by creating suction in the mouth, a manoeuvre called gape and suck. This manoeuvre is reported to take only 1/6th of a second[ our muscles can`t even twitch at that speed.
If you want to see more jet-speed action check this out https://youtu.be/pJXmJsIaHy8.
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