VIDEO:Strange walking sea creature

  A picture doesn't do it justice by any means. You have to see this thing in action. It appears to be pretty small, maybe a foot long at the very biggest (assuming it's a big tuna that swims by) and more likely to be much smaller.

  Still it basically resembles a walking fishhead with a backend which...which...is hard to describe.

  I have no idea where the footage comes from or how to read the codes on the footage outside of depth and other clearly-labeled readouts. Anyone seen this before?

Thanks!

PB

I'm not a marine biologist, so that's just a guess.

the one in the video is walking on the bottom

Doesn't look a think like a sunfish.

That's what I get for trying to multitask!

At first, I almost thought maybe a Nurse Shark. Then I watched the video and laughed my ass off at myself LOL

...ocean floor. I just checked and could only find this as a picture of a baby ocean sunfish.



By the way, ocean sunfish are some of the strangest, coolest looking creatures in the sea. Especially when fully grown.

PB

I saw one at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Absolutely fascinating. I couldn't stop looking at it.

And just think with all the DNA and waste modern civilization pumps into our waterways each day. Is it any wonder?

Mutant fish!!!! Ruuuuunnn!

I'm curious to know as well.

I have seen them before. Both in salt water and fresh water. In fresh water, it looks lie a walking cat fish. In salt, they are a strange species that I used to catch in crab traps in the canal to be put into the family pet project aquarium when I lived in Florida. They are hiders in rocks and are generally foul tempered. They weigh about half a pound to about a pound and are about 10 to 12 inches long.

...modified (or not-so-modified) fins to walk. However, the placement of the fins is really strange. Ever call them by anything that you remember? And generally where did you live? I could search on stuff like that.

PB

and cute.

Thanks for sharing!

that's just an ocean hedgehog.

an albino catfish

not rare in our region, probably not rare in texas either

...the fin placement makes the thing look more froggish than fish...er....fishish. ;-)

  I tried to grab a shot where you could see the whiskers, because it definitely has some kind of whiskers for sensing food or for straking the sea bed to flush things out. But the placement and proportions seem wildly wrong for any kind of catfish I've seen. At least any in North America.

  I know flounders undergo a really strong metamorphosis as they grow, with their fry looking more or less like a regular fish but as they get older (if I recall correctly) one of their eyes migrates over to the same side of their head as the other and their body takes on a more flounder-like appearance.

  With the fins so close together in front and the fins in back looking so little like fins used for swimming, this animal would have to undergo (it would seem) an equally amazing metamorphosis. When you came across fish like these, was there a name you called them by, even some local nickname?

Thanks!

PB

from S. East Asia.

...in front are basically underneath it and the two in back are well on the sides.

  But the locomotion trips me out: First the left front fin, then the right front fin then both back fins at the same time.

  And the back fins remind me of frog legs for some reason!

ONEDIT: Could it be some kind of amphibian in their water-breathing stage?

PB

The sea was angry that day, my friends... like an old man calling for his supper.

:thumbsup:

one of the small dinosaurs Noah was supposed to put on the ark in its lizard stage, and overlooked.

:woohoo:

I just made that name up, because it kind of walks like a bunny and it is big a round like a bunny.

maybe?

">photo here


the photo is too huge to post, but i can't get the link to work. i give up.

PB

...the back leg-fins, have the same shape!

Here's one from behind:



PB

  I answer pretty certainly on that one because mudpuppies all have elongated vermiform bodies, gill "tufts" (when aquatic, anyway) and their legs are on the sides like a crocodile, for instance. I almost don't wonder if this thing (and you really have to see it moving, and especially from the different angles) is deformed in some way.

  Totally didn't think of mudpuppies, but it's a good guess at least based on the still image.

PB

Like newts or salamanders.

It seems to fit the general description. The image isn't to great but you could see some features,
fins that resemble webbed feet and upward looking eyes and mouth. Clearly not much of a swimmer, rather it waddles about on the bottom.
Most frogfish have the fishing appendage on the head to lure prey. Hard to see anything in the video.
If I had to put money down, I would go with a frogfish of some sort. Check for yourself, just go on Google-Images and type in "frogfish".

I'm thinking that it's some sort of frogfish. They apparently have evolved tetrapod like adaptations to their fins to enable them to walk on the ocean floor.

There's some interesting discussion of them in Jenny Clack's book Gaining Ground, which I thought of immediately when I saw this.

...is extremely interesting stuff.

PB

Check it out here. http://www.amazon.com/Gaining-Ground-Origin-Evolution-Tetrapods/dp/0253340543

PB

Can't wait to find out what this is.

A transition species perhaps? Oh wait, there's no evolution, never mind.

If ye can catch one - slipperier than a neocon on a Congressional Hearing day....so me pappy used to say....

"sea" "ocean" "fish" "wtf" "bizarre"

:rofl:

PB

"Confirmed" it over at Zubi's Frogfish Page which Google helped me find. In the videos section there's a video of a frogfish "running" which uses the exact movement and has the same fin placement, etc.

  Thanks to everyone who hazarded a guess or just took a moment to enjoy another strange and beautiful creature on our planet!

PB

This might be it:

http://www.starfish.ch/fishes-Fische/frogfishes-Anglerfische/Antennarius-pictus29.html



I actually am a marine biologist but I deal mainly with coastal species. Many frogfish species live on the ocean floor, sometimes at great depths.

I was fascinated by this. Never even heard of a frogfish before, but now I'm fascinated with them!