Mandarinfish
These beautiful mandarinfish (Synchiropus splendidus) are covered in bright blue, red, yellow and orange waves. What they lack, however, are traditional fish scales. They live in western Pacific tropical coral reef ecosystems and instead of your typical fish scales they are covered in a smelly, thick mucus coating. It's possible that this mucus, which not only smells—but tastes—bad, is used as a deterrent to predators.
View Related Ocean Media Content
-
Adélie Penguins Face Off
-
Blue Cod Amongst Sea Pens
-
Cyprus Shipwreck Discovery
-
Pearlfish from a Sea Cucumber
-
New Guinea Fish and Crab
-
CO2 Marsh Study
-
Parrotfish in Mucus Cocoon
-
Fan Sponge
-
Common cuttlefish
-
Bait Ball
-
Mangroves at the Sea’s Edge
-
New Jelly Species: 'Bathykorus bouilloni'
-
The Importance of a Wave
-
Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Distribution Map
-
Midwater Squid, Abralia veranyi
-
Staurozoan: The Stalked Jellyfish
-
Emperor Penguin Chick with Mother
-
Arctic Copepod
-
Dead Coral Overgrown with Algae
-
A Handful of Biodiversity
-
Isopod Engorged With Blood
-
Australia's 1.2 Million Mile Marine Reserve
-
Arctic Sea Ice Extent Graph
-
Resilient Coral
-
Guineafowl Moray
Share your comments here.
* When you click submit, your comment will be added to the queue for review and will be published after approval.
comment_wrapper_curve


























comment_wrapper_curve_top