The Macroppina Microstoma fish, the seventh mystery.

This fish remains a mystery, he has a transparent head, and those two balls in his head are his eyes, the two holes in his face are his nostrils.

The Macroppina Microstoma fish was discovered in California´s Central Coast.

This fish is also known as the barreleye fish.

He was discovered since 1939 but scientists could not find out more about this fish´s lifestyle since they were only caught dead by fishermen´s nets.

The barreleye fish spends most of the time motionless, with his eyes looking upward. This fish lives 2000 meters above the sea surface, where water looks dark.

This animal has been observed by scientists thanks to a remotely operated vehicle.

He eats small jellyfish, by observing the little reflect from the sunlight, he can watch the moment when a jellyfish is passing overhead. Then he rotates his eyes to follow his prey.

The Great White Shark, the sixth mystery

A white shark is scary, his sharp teeth and his huge body makes me want to run away.

This animal is the largest predatory fish on Earth. He can smell a tiny drop of blood from 5 kilometers away.

Their grey skin on top gives them the opportunity to camouflage in rocky places, but they get their name because of their white underbellies.

White sharks have 300 triangular-shaped teeth, which can brake any bone with almost no effort.

They can grow up to 4.6 meters in length and can weight up to 5,000 pounds.

White sharks can be found in cold regions throughout the world.

Their main prey items include sea lions, seals, small toothed whales, and even sea turtles, and carrion.



sources: national geographic

Blue Whales, the fifth mystery

Blue whales are huge and they are my favorite animal.

Their scientific name is Balaenoptera Musculus, and they are mammals, just like us humans;
they have a little bit of fur and their babies drink milk.

image by national geographic.

Their life span is larger than ours, they can live 80 to 90 years.

The blue whale is the longest animal in the animal kingdom, it can measure up to 32 meters and weight up to 200 tons. Their tongues weight more than an elephant and their hearts can weight about the same as a car. They are also the loudest animal in the animal kingdom, because their cries can be even louder than an airplane engine.

image by Aquarium of the pacific.

The blue whale feeds from a shrimp-like creature called krill. An average whale can eat 4 tons of krill in only a single day. Their color is a strong blue underwater, but when they go outside, they have an appearance of a gray and bluish color.


Blue whales have few predators, but they are chased by sharks and killer whales, and they are
constantly killed by impacts withlarge ships.

press the link below to listen to real blue whale sounds

https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/acoustics/whales/sounds/whalewav/atlblue_512_64_0-50_10x.wav

Coral Reefs, the fourth mystery

Coral reefs are amazing, they are colorful and full of life.


Coral organisms have a name, they are called polyps. Coral polyps are known because of the huge reefs they create by themselves, but they can live on their own.

They can expand easily but it takes some time, they arrive to an specific place, when they found a rock they attach to it and start creating hundreds of clones. Many thousands of years later, when polyps have expanded a lot, they get together with other polyps´ expansions and they finally form a huge coral reef.

coral bleaching

Coral polyps can live from 2 to hundreds of years, on the other hand, a coral polyp colony can live from 5 years to more than a century.

Coral reefs are located in tropical areas, were sun rays can reach the corals.

All coral reefs together cover only 1% of the ocean floor, but it provides refugees for 25% of marine life.

Climate change affects water temperature, and if water temperature rises corals start to bleach, this means they start dying. It is very important to keep them alive, since it provides home to many marine species.

Scientists estimate that pollution and other factors like global warming may kill over 30% of coral polyps in the next 3 decades.

sources: national geographic

The Angler Fish, the third mystery

The angler fish can be considered the ugliest animal in the planet, in my opinion this animal is really scary.

This fish is famous, since it was part from the Finding Nemo movie.

The angler fish lives in the Arctic and Atlantic ocean.

Some angler fish can measure more than 1 meter, but others measure relatively the size of a tea cup.

They eat other fish. A distinctive feature is their lights, which only female can have. This light helps the fish to attract it´s prey close enough to eat it. This light glows thanks to millions of bioluminescent bacteria.

female phantom angler fish with male angler fish attached

by national geographic

Male angler fish are smaller than female angler fish.

When a male angler fish founds a female, he bites the female and attaches to her body. After months the male angler fish will loose his eyes, and later all his organs except his testicles, and he
will be attached to the female forever. A female angler fish can carry more than 6 male bodies on her body.

sources: national geographic