A fisherman in waters north of New Zealand came
across an odd-looking, translucent sea creature
swimming on the surface. Curious, he caught the
creature—presumably scooping it up with a net—
to get a closer look.
It was described as a see-through, shrimp-like
creature by the U.K. MailOnline.
“It felt scaly and was quite firm, almost jelly like,
and you couldn’t see anything inside aside from
this orange little blob inside it,”
Fraser, who had been fishing with sons Conaugh
and Finn 43 miles north of the Karikari Peninsula,
took photos and shared them with his fishing
buddies, none of whom could identify the sea
creature.
“We have no idea what it could have been, but it
was quite something, and I’d never seen anything
like it before,” he said.
Fortunately, the folks at the National Marine
Aquarium in Plymouth, U.K., had an idea,
identifying it as a Salpa maggiore (Salpa maxima).
Paul Cox, director of conservation and
communication at the aquarium, told MailOnline
that a salp is barrel-shaped, moves by pumping
water through its gelatinous body, and that the
life-cycle includes alternate generations of
existing as solitary individuals or as a group
forming long chains.
“In common with other defenseless animals that
occupy open water—jellies and hydroids, for
example—the translucence presumably provides
some protection from predation,” Cox told
MailOnline. “Being see-through is a pretty good
camouflage in water.”
The report doesn’t say, but it is presumed Fraser
threw the bizarre sea creature back into the
ocean.
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