Parrotfish - There is Something Fishy About This Parrot!
If you were a parrotfish, though, none of this would have bothered you. You would have just produced your own slime sunscreen during the day to escape the harsh sun. At night, you would have secreted a mucus cocoon to protect yourself from blood-sucking parasites and bad-tempered predators.
Pygmy Seahorse and the Art of Camouflage
What are pygmy seahorses? As evident from the name, these are a group of tiny seahorses (<2 cm in height) found mostly in the Coral Triangle area of Southeast Asia. Consider how tiny they really are; a recently discovered one is reportedly no bigger than your fingernail. (Ref 1) This fact, along with their exceptional camouflage abilities, means that they manage to escape detection – not just by predators, but also by scientists and explorers. Spotting a pygmy seahorse on its host coral is like finding a needle in a haystack.
Who Would You Rather be? Don Quixote or Remora Fish?
Here’s a real-life scenario: You are in a neighborhood teeming with criminals of every size and shape. You have none of the thuggery or valor needed to beat them, and worse, there’s nowhere else to go to live out your life. What do you do? You can charge in like a swashbuckling 21st-century Don Quixote, challenging the goons to dare to touch you while secretly despairing about the danger waiting around every corner. Or, you could “think smart, not hard” and strike a friendship with the biggest Don in town…
Which is the cutest crab around? Candy or fairy?
These tiny crabs, no bigger than your fingernails, are master foragers. Their long hairs help them catch and eat organic ocean debris. They live on giant barrel sponges, with whom they have struck an agreement – the sponge gives the crab a safe place to live in; the crab, in return, keeps the sponge clean and free of ocean debris.