weird fish

The rarely seen and poorly studied order Phreatobius are said to be the only fish that live exclusively out of the water, slithering around in wet leaf litter along the banks of streams. Pink, slimy, worm-like and seemingly blind, its possible that these creatures spend most of their time deep beneath the soil. Everything else about them is completely unknown.

The Thaumatichthyidae, or wolftrap anglerfish, may boast the most absurd overbites in the animal kingdom. Though the upper jaw is often several times larger than the lower one, it is also capable of folding in half lengthwise, forming a cage for the wolftrap fishs prey and allowing it to suck a meal down its throat. In every member of Thaumatichthyidae, a bioluminescent lure even dangles directly from the roof of the mouth.Like other deep-sea anglerfish, they have a parasitic mating ritual: the male fuses himself to the females flesh before shedding every extraneous body part.

We already know how strange the deep-sea anglerfish can get, but members of the Gigantactinidae, or whipnose seadevils, stand out in two perplexing ways. First, their natural fishing lures grow to extraordinary lengths, sometimes more than 10 times that of the animals entire body. Stranger still, all living examples of these creatures have been observed swimming upside-down. Why? No one knows.

Also known as a thread-tail, Stylephorus chordatus is a rare deep-sea fish so unusual, the single species is alone in an entire taxonomic order. To put this in perspective, all the worlds cats, dogs, bears, raccoons, ferrets, and their relatives belong to one order, the Carnivora. Imagine if none of those existed except for one rare species of weasel in all the world, and you have a situation much like the tube-eyes. Despite its names, the strangest thing about this animal is probably its mouth. Except for one tiny, tubular opening, its jaws are fused together by an expandable bag of skin, functioning exactly like a set of bellows, or an accordian. By expanding the bag, it creates a powerful suction through that tiny, tubular opening to slurp up minute, planktonic crustaceans. This same maneuver also bugs out its eyeballs and twists them forward, like a set of binoculars, focusing in on its incredibly small prey.

Take a look at that snout! The hogfish is a colorful member of the wrasse family, possessing a protruded snout, ideal for searching out crustaceans buried in the ocean floor. Not only is it weird looking, it also is one of those rare animals that changes sex during its life cycle, beginning out as a female before turning into a male after three years or so. They are found predominantly around Florida and the south Atlantic, reaching lengths of three feet and weighing no more than 25 pounds. The hogfish above is the 21-pound, 15-ounce South Carolina state record.

A paddlefish?s face and head is the stuff of nightmares, but don?t worry, despite their large mouths, they only feed on tiny zooplankton. Their elongated snout, known as a rostrum, can detect weak electrical fields, aiding them in their search for food. The American paddlefish is one of the largest freshwater fish in North America, capable of reaching five feet in length and weigh over 100 pounds. Found in many river systems across central U.S., the paddlefish is unique for gamefish as they are not taken by conventional rod-and-reel approach. Instead, bowfishing, spear, and snagging are the primary ways to catch a paddlefish.

This prehistoric-looking fish is a popular target for anglers, especially in south central U.S. They can grow over eight feet in length and weigh over 300 pounds, and put up an excellent fight, whether by rod-and-reel or by bowfishing. The alligator gar is so named because of their mouth, which resemble the elongated snout and teeth of the large reptile. Not only are they a worthy foe for anglers and bowfishers, they are a tough fish in general, as they can survive outside of water for upwards of two hours. Their flesh is considered a delicacy in the U.S.

The needlefish looks like a kind of gar, but they are an ocean-going fish that are typically smaller, rarely reaching a few feet in length. But don?t let its size fool you: if you were to think alligator gar has caused more deaths then a needlefish, you would be wrong. Needlefish can make jumps out of the water at speeds approaching 40 miles per hour, and if you?re standing in the wrong place and time, you could be accidentally speared by them. There have been two recorded deaths caused by needlefish, both as a result of a leaping needlefish ? one through the eye, and another through the heart.

The Atlantic Scombrops commonly called ?gnomefish? looks like someone who just saw something incredibly surprising, and didn?t like it. Its huge eyes and not soflattering colors may make you think it wouldn?t be very tasty, but gnomefish actually make a great meal. Anglers mostly fish for them between Florida and the Bahamas, in waters hundreds of feet deep.

You know you?re a weird-looking fish if a popular nickname for you is ?vampirefish.? The two long fangs on its lower jaw make it look like one of those fish found in the deepest, darkest parts of the ocean, but they are actually native to the Amazon Basin and Orinoco River in Venezuela. Those fangs can grow to be 4-6 inches long, pretty big for a fish that rarely grow much bigger than a foot. What do they use the big teeth for? Well if one of your primary targets is a piranha, another Amazon fish famous for its teeth, youd do thankful to have some long, sharp teeth too.