Mysterieous Coral Killer Unmasked - Fresh Catch Friday

Unbeknownst to the hundreds of visitors, a mysterious killer lurked at Newquay Blue Reef Aquarium. Aquarists found evidence of violent attacks to the coral reef display, often entire pieces cut in half. Despite the two-week stake out of the exhibit, and multiple traps, the killer began claiming fish as victims. The Aquarium was forced to take the exhibit apart, rock by rock. Halfway through the exhibit they discovered:

CASE #608-2741

Name: Barry

Species: Sea Worm

Length: 4'0"

Last Seen: Newquay Blue Reef Aquarium


At the time of his capture, Barry was armed and dangerous. He is covered with thousands of stinging bristles, which are capable of inflicting permanent numbness. After biting through a 20 lb fishing line, the perpetrator was finally lured out with fish scraps. Currently, Barry is being held in solitary confinement in a tank, safely away from any potential victims.

A Far-Out Fish - Fresh Catch Friday

Credit: AP

Hope you all are having a grooovy Friday! Today's Fresh Catch will definitely make your mind trip. Meet Histiophryne psychedelica, aka Psychedlica, a frogfish with beige and peach stripes and blue eyes.

Credit: AP

In an almost drunken matter, this fish uses its legs and gills to propel itself through the water. The end result is a bit like Flubber underwater. While frogfish are pretty well-known, none have as colorful patterns or bounce through the water. Discovered in Indonesia a year ago, Psychedelica was identified as a new species thanks to University of Washington professor Ted Pietsch's DNA tests.

You can learn more about the fish and see it swim in the video below!

This Dolphin is Tickled Pink - Fresh Catch Friday

Meet today's Fresh Catch, the only pink bottlenose dolphin in the world! This adorable dolphin was discovered in a Louisiana lake by charter boat captain Erick Rue.

He said, "I just happened to see a little pod of dolphins, and I noticed one that was a little lighter. It was absolutely stunningly pink. I had never seen anything like it. It's the same color throughout the whole body and it looks like it just came out of a paint booth."

Credit: Caters News

The beautiful pink color is actually due to albinism, as indicated by its pink eyes. As always with wild dolphins, visitors are urged to observe from a distance and be respectful to this amazing creature.



You can read more about the dolphin at the Telegraph and Caters News.

Eye See You - Fresh Catch Friday

Credit: MBARI

Say hello to today's Fresh Catch, the Macropinna microstoma. Commonly known as a barreleye fish, this amazing creature has a transparent head that acts much like a fighter-plane cockpit.


This fish is well adapted for the dark ocean depths. The barreleye has flat fins that allow it to remain still in the water. Its eyes point upwards to scan for prey in the light. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) discovered that its light sensitive barrel-like-eyes can also rotate forward as they eat their prey. Even though they have a small mouth, they have a large digestive system. Perfect for a jellyfish snack.

Credit: MBARI

You can learn more about the barreleye fish here.

Watch the video below to see the fish in action.

Pygmy Seahorse - Fresh Catch Friday

Credit: Kai Walz

These tiny treasures are today's Fresh Catch. In all, five new species of pygmy seahorses were discovered in the Red Sea and Indonesia.

Credit: Stephen Wong and Takako Uno

These adorable seahorses are all under an inch tall, so you could imagine how difficult they were to find and photograph.

They are the first new seahorses to be discovered in five years. Don't look for them in a pet store or even an aquarium anytime soon.

Instead, you can enjoy pictures of them in their natural environment here.

A 'Seuess-Like' Sea Creature - Fresh Catch Friday

Carnivorous Sea Squirt
Credit: Advanced Imaging and Visualization Laboratory, WHOI/Jess Adkins, Caltech.

This is the first of what I hope will be a regular feature, Fresh Catch Friday. Every Friday I will post an interesting story and/or picture relevant to the aquatic world.

Today's Fresh Catch is of a newly discovered type of sea squirt. The carnivorous creature acts much like a Venus fly trap, catching fish as they swim by and trapping them inside its translucent body. The sea squirt pictured, 1.6 feet in length, was found in deep in Australian waters by a team of international scientists.

"It was truly one of those transcendent moments," said the cruise's lead scientist, Jess Adkins of Caltech, referring to the descents made by Jason. "We were flying — literally flying — over these deep-sea structures that look like English gardens, but are actually filled with all of these carnivorous, Seuss-like creatures that no one else has ever seen."

I really like the shape and transparency of this species! Check out the full article here.