Having two oceans encompassing our coastline, South Africa has a rich marine diversity. To celebrate National Marine Week, here are 10 weird and wonderful marine critters that call our coast home.
1. Filefish
Filefish are also known as foolfish, leatherjackets or shingles. These fish are flat and the front part of their bodies are deep, giving them a triangular shape.
2. Crocodile fish
These fish look like a lion fish and a spade sand skate had a baby. They are bottom-dwelling fish that are very camoflaged and can grow up to 1 metre in size.
3. Flounders
Much to my dismay, flounders are not how Disney depicted them. These fish are in fact, master camouflagers. Their eyes are usually on one side of their flattened bodies and can be tricky to spot when in costume.
3. Flatworms
These flat, leaf life creatures are marvellous to look at. They grow between 10 and 30 cm and vary in colour, from green and grey to black and vivid orange.
4. Frogfish
This sea creature is particularly mesmerising. Frogfish snatch up their prey when contact is made with a fleshy tentacle, causing their jaw to spring open.
5. Lizardfish
These lean, mean fighting machines have sharp teeth in both jaws that help them snatch up their unsuspecting prey. These critters grow between 20-60cm in length.
6. Pineapplefish
The pineapplefish’ name is equally as cool as its markings. These fish are orange by day and blue-green by night and they have a bioluminiscent organ, called a photophore, on either side of its lower jaw.
7. Sea spiders
Nothing terrifies me more than spiders and the fact that sea spiders exist is harrowing, even if they aren’t true spiders. These creepy crawlies can vary in size, from 1 cm to 1 metre, lovely.
8. Slipper lobster
These cute crustaceans are similar to lobsters but have a set of large, shovel-like antennae. The slipper lobster is closely related to spiny and coral lobsters.
9. Unicornfish
Where there’s sea spiders, there are unicornfish. These fish have sharp spins on their tail base and if provoked, they will attack.
10. Red lionfish
The king of the sea, the red lionfish is a sea creature you admire from afar. Their mane is made from spiky dorsal fins that are venemous but not deadly.
Image: Unsplash
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