The oceans and seas have many unexplored mysteries that have rightly fascinated humans for centuries. Since the beginning of seafaring communities, there have been myths and stories of ferocious sea creatures living in the depths of the ocean that consume ships whole. The Kraken, sea dragons, enormous squids and humanoid creatures like mermaids are just some examples. Though these myths have been disproven by modern science, the oceans are actually home to some very unique aquatic animals which have abilities that are nothing short of superpowers. Here is a list of aquatic animals that have adapted to their environment by developing some very interesting strategies.
Aquatic Animals With Mind-Blowing Superpowers
1. Salmon
This fish has the superpower to navigate long distances using magnetic waves of the Earth. These fish live in salt water but they migrate to fresh water to lay eggs. When the young ones hatch, they navigate distances greater than 2000 miles back to the sea and return to the same place where they were born to lay their eggs. Some salmons also jump upstream to go from the sea to fresh water and this reveals their strength in swimming since they have to swim against the current for long distances. Also, read about amazing bioluminescent animals on planet Earth.
Also Read: Top 10 Endangered Animals In The World
2. Cuttlefish
This aquatic animal is called a fish but actually belongs to the class ‘Mollusca’ and is more closely related to octopuses and squids than fish. They are remarkable creatures who live in tropical oceans and have three hearts that pump green blood. Their superpower is their ability to change the color of their body and eyes to blend better with their surroundings and hide from predators. This is done using a special pigment on their skin which helps in changing color very fast. They are also believed to be more intelligent than any other invertebrate. There are many beautiful fishes in the world depending on color shades and fascinating structures.
Also Read: Why Amazon Rainforest Are So Important? & Why We Should Care?
Image Source: Wikimedia
3. Sea Cucumber
The Sea Cucumber, though named after a vegetable is actually is an animal that lives on the ocean floors of the Asia-Pacific region and has the amazing capacity to regenerate lost body parts. They have a different type of cells that make regeneration possible at any stage in their life and of any lost body part. Though they look unremarkable, research is being done in order to extract the compounds that enable them to regenerate body parts and use it to cure ailments in humans. You will also find interesting reading about mysterious underwater cities of the ancient world.
4. Box Jellyfish
This delicate looking aquatic animal is one of the oldest animal species on Earth. It has more than five thousand stinging cells on its body, each with its sac of venom and it uses these to sting prey like fish and shrimp and immobilize it. If a human is stung by this animal, it may cause death because of heart failure. Those who survive experience extreme pain for many weeks. There are more than one hundred reported jellyfish attacks a year which lead to death. What makes the jellyfish even more dangerous is that it has a transparent body which makes it almost impossible to see this animal in the water.
5. Planarian
This flatworm is a non-parasitic aquatic animal and has a regeneration power higher than that of the sea cucumber. On being cut into pieces, each piece can develop into a new full individual worm and this is one of the ways in which the worm reproduces. Some animals like lizards have limited power of regeneration in the sense that they can grow back only specific parts of their body, but the planarian can grow any part of its body even from a small clump of cells. It thus has limitless regeneration powers. You must also know about most terrifying deep sea creatures.
Image Source: Wikimedia
6. Electric Eel
As the name suggests, this aquatic animal can discharge electricity from its body. It lives off the coast of South America and uses the electric discharge to stun its prey before killing it. The electricity has a voltage of around 600 volts and it can discharge this for a prolonged period of several minutes. It can produce charge using electrolyte cells in its body. If a human is attacked by the electric eel, it can make the person unconscious. It is rare to be attacked by electric eels, but most attacks do not result in death because of the shock but rather because the person drowns due to the unconsciousness. It is also one of the deadliest fishes in the world. Also, It is one of the most dangerous amazon rainforest animals.
Image Source: Wikimedia
7. Platypus
The platypus is a unique animal that has the body of an otter, the bill, and feet of a duck. It is one of the two mammals that lay eggs and is endemic to Australia. The superpower of this animal is the ability to locate prey accurately and this is done using the more than 40 thousand electroreceptors and 60 thousand mechanoreceptors in its bill to sense the movement of prey in water using pressure differences. Platypuses also have poison glands on the hind feet that it uses to kill prey. Oceans have a wide variety of creatures like platypus has mind-blowing superpowers and some of them are also listed under smartest animals in the world.
Image Source: Wikimedia
8. Mantis Shrimp
This bottom-dwelling aquatic animal has a maximum length of 30 centimetres and has a bright red color. It has the incredible ability to accelerate its forelimb to enormous speeds – sometimes reaching the velocity of a bullet. This generates a force of 1500 Newton in 1/3000 of a second and this “punch” smashes the prey into pieces. This force can also generate a shock wave in the ocean and heats up the water around the shrimp. Also, read an interesting article related to endemic animals of Galapagos islands
9. Sailfish
This fish has a singular-looking long pointed mouth that appears like a spike. The superpower of this fish is its super speed – it is the fastest animal in the sea. It lives in oceans all around the world and is named after the sail-like fins on its body. This fish can be as long as 11 feet long and the streamlined body, sail-like fins, and long snout help it achieve speeds of up to 64 meters per hour. It uses this speed to catch prey by surprise attack and also to escape predators like larger fish and octopuses. Also, read about most amazing blind animals.
10. Hagfish
The hagfish is actually not a fish but an eel and has the ability to survive in extreme conditions. It lives at depths of about 5500 feet. When attacked by predators, this eel secretes slime from its body which blocks the gills and mouth of the attacking predator. Because the predators cannot get the slime off their body, they usually retreat giving the eel time to escape. Apart from this interesting survival strategy, this eel can also absorb food through its skin. Hagfish is one of the aquatic animals that can survive for periods of up to three months without food in case food is scarce. Also, read about strange animals found only in Africa.
Image Source: Wikimedia
It would be wonderful to have superpowers and these aquatic animals do actually have abilities that are nothing short of miraculous. However, these abilities are actually adaptive strategies of aquatic animals developed over years of evolution and help the animal survive in its environment.
