Transparent fish: photo and description. Salpa Maggiore - transparent fish

Nature constantly surprises us with rare and very interesting plants and animals. Among the amazing and unusual representatives of the fauna are many inhabitants of reservoirs. One of them is a transparent fish. This is one of the rare species, of which not everyone knows.

Marine "glass jars"

In order to survive, the fish are forced to camouflage themselves. Stripes and spots on the fins and the body, different coloring of the scales, as well as various outgrowths help them to merge with the background that surrounds them. But there is one very extravagant and easiest way to become invisible in the water. It becomes transparent, as if dissolving in the native element. To lose color to a marine animal, it is sufficient to lose the reflective surface, for example, of mirror scales.

After all, a well-known fact is that the glass, lowered into the water, is almost invisible to the human eye. This way of camouflaging was chosen for themselves by a variety of fish, living in the seas and fresh water. And these species often do not have any kindred relations with each other. "Glass" fish are found among aquarium animals.

New Zealand miracle

Fisherman Stuart Fraser near Karikari Peninsula came across an unusual creature. At first he took it for a crumpled cellophane bag, which slid slowly over the surface of the water. Just looking closely, Stewart realized that this is a living organism. Until this time, the fisherman did not see anything of the kind in the sea waters and at first did not dare to take the animal in his hands.

However, the curiosity of a person took precedence over fear. A very strange and completely transparent fish was extracted from the water. Her body was covered with unstable scales of jelly-like form. That's why the transparent fish looked more like a jellyfish. In an amazing marine animal, virtually all of the internal organs were virtually invisible, except for one small teardrop shaped, painted in red. Fraser took a few pictures of an amazing fish and let it go back to its native element.

A new species of the inhabitants of the reservoir?

Stuart Fraser showed pictures of a wonderful creature to Paul Caste, who is the director of the National Marine Aquarium. After studying the photographs, he determined that this creature is nothing else than Salpa Maggiore - a transparent fish. This species looks like a jellyfish, but nevertheless has a close connection with marine vertebrates.

Salpa Maggiore is a transparent fish (see photo below). However, she has a heart and gills. In addition, there are special filters inside this fish. They pass water through her body, collecting food in the form of phytoplankton and algae.

Salpa Maggiore is a transparent fish traveling in large groups. The peculiarity of this species is that the individuals of this being do not have sex. They are able to independently produce offspring, forming mass jambs.

Salpa Maggiore is a transparent fish (photo confirms her unusual look), and she looks like a creature from a horror film. But you should not be afraid of it. This is an absolutely harmless creature, eating a platterton. Transparent body is only a mask, able to protect the fish from attacks by marine predators, which, like her, live in the surface layers of water.

Information on the fish Salpa Maggiore collected very little. Scientists refer it to one of the subspecies salsa, numbering about thirty species. In addition, it is known that these marine invertebrates prefer to live in the cold waters of the Southern Ocean.

Transparent fish Salpa Maggiore has a barrel shape. On the water, it moves by pumping liquid through its body. The jelly body of the fish is covered with transparent scales, through which the ring muscles and intestines are viewed. On the surface of an unusual creature, you can see two holes of siphons. One of them is oral, leading into a large pharynx, and the second is cloacal. Siphon holes are located at opposite ends of the transparent body of the fish. On the ventral side of the sea animal is the heart.

A wonderful inhabitant of Baikal waters

Unusual creatures are found not only in the seas and oceans. For example, there is a transparent fish in Lake Baikal. This is an animal that does not have a swim bladder and scales. In addition, thirty-five percent of his body is fat. This fish inhabits the great depth of Lake Baikal. Its individuals are viviparous.

What is the name of the transparent fish of Lake Baikal? Golomyanka. This name comes from the Russian word "holomene", meaning "open sea". It surprisingly accurately conveys the existing features of the etiology of this species of fish.

Golomyanka has refined bones of the skull. She has especially developed dorsal, thoracic and anal fins. Golomyanka are very prolific. One individual is able to produce almost two thousand fry. Reproduction occurs by way of gynogenesis, which is characteristic only of this species.

Transparent fish of Baikal can withstand a huge pressure equal to one hundred and twenty-five bars. That's why the place of its dwelling is the bottom of this deep pond.

Fish feed by applying the passive method. Golomyanka literally soar in the water with the help of their pectoral fins. At the same time, their mouth is constantly open and is able to instantly grab floating food in the form of bottom amphipods, epishura and macrocoenopus and other food.

It is believed that the fat of the golomyanka was used in ancient times as a lamp oil. A big role was played by this transparent fish in Chinese and Mongolian medicine. During the wars, it was caught in order to restore the strength of the wounded soldiers.

Transparent perch

"Glass" fish are also found among fairly well-known species. They are also among representatives of the group of percids. Ambassidae is one of the subspecies of these fish, otherwise called glass Asian. These water vertebrates are characterized by a high and short, slightly tapered trunk. In the occiput, they have some concavity. Transparent tissues of these fish allow you to see the skeleton, as well as shiny films that cover the gills and internal organs.

Long pigtails on unpaired fins have a transparent fish, whose name is a glass angel. Representatives of this family do not have scales on the body. However, the most extravagant appearance is possessed by the big-bass perch. Above the head of this fish hangs a huge discoid outgrowth, reminiscent of a hump.

Aquarium perch

The most common ones for a home are the Parambassis ranga. This is an Indian glass perch. This fish has received an unjustified reputation uneasy and capricious in content. This opinion was formed on the assumption that she prefers to live in brackish waters. Of course, some representatives of this family do live in the seas. However, Indian glass perch - a resident of low-flow freshwater. This fish prefers a little sour and soft water. Under such conditions, it will easily take root in the aquarium and will not give its owner unnecessary trouble.

However, it should be borne in mind that glass Indian perch like to eat natural foods and refuse flakes. In addition, it is desirable to have a flock consisting of a dozen or more fish in a home aquarium. The fact is that lonely individuals or those living in small groups become very shy and oppressed. In addition, their appetite worsens.

Glass catfish

This is another transparent fish for the aquarium. Despite its name, it is impossible to recognize its close relatives of catfish living in our reservoirs. The trunk of these fish is compressed from the sides, not vertically. This is because the glass Asian catfish do not lie at the bottom. They actively move in the water and live in flocks. Transparent body tissues allow you to see the filaments of the ribs and the thin spine of these amazing fishes. At first glance it seems that the abdominal cavity with internal organs in these individuals is absent altogether. However, it is not. All of them are displaced to the head and are similar to the continuation of the gills.

Glass catfish can be not only Asian. There is also an African species of these fish, belonging to the family of shilboids. Outwardly, they have an incredible similarity with their Asian namesakes. However, they are not so transparent and differ in longitudinal black strips stretching along the sides of the trunk. Another distinguishing feature of this family is a remarkably developed fatty fin, as well as four, and not two pairs of antennae on the head.

Transparent Titles

Decorate the home aquarium and small fishes of the family Characidae. Their body is painted only a small palette of flowers. As a rule, these are only individual pigmented areas, barely noticeable on the faint background of the trunk. Such spots are original identification marks. They flash only when the light hits them at a certain angle. These suddenly appearing spots, playing with all the colors of the rainbow, look great in a slightly darkened aquarium. However, in this family there are absolutely transparent fish. In their torso to the skylight, one can only see a swim bladder. Nevertheless, this fish also has an ornament. It is represented by a red tail at the base, and a thin strip of greenish color stretched along the trunk. Contain such a fish is easy even for beginners, as it is quite undemanding to aquarium conditions.

Harax Conde

This is a relatively large fish as close as possible to the ideal of "glass". Its lofty, diamond-shaped body has a slight golden hue.

Transparency in this fish is not used for disguises from enemies. The fact is that Harax himself is a predator. In order to wait for the prey passing by, this fish can spend long hours in ambush. The transparent body makes it invisible in the water. At the same time, harax hangs absolutely motionless in the thickets of aquatic vegetation head down.

The usual Rydley prill

On the anal and dorsal fins of this fish there are spots of yellow and black flowers. Its tail has a reddish tinge. But, despite such a coloring, the nevertheless is attributed to transparent fish. "Glass" is her body. Only in the abdominal cavity can be seen the stomach and intestines of the fish, as well as the gills located behind the gill covers.