Ocean Oddballs: Strange Creatures Series
Catalogue Number: BAM487
Producer: Blue Ant Media
Producing Agencies: Blue Ant Media
Subject: Science
Language: English
Grade Level: 6 - 8, 9 - 12, Post Secondary
Country Of Origin: Canada
Copyright Year: 2017
Running Time: 30:00
Closed Captions: Yes
Some ocean creatures have adaptations that give them a survival edge. The white margin stargazer, part of the perciform family of fish, stuns its prey with an electric shock, uses toxic venom from its bony spines filled and waits in camouflaged ambush on the sea floor, striking with lightning speed. Frogfish an another maritime wonder, hopping along the sea floor with jointed fins, it snaps its jaws faster than any other vertebrate. Camouflaged as a coral or sea fan, this ambush predator also dangles a lure resembling a wriggling worm. The peacock mantis shrimp, a crustacean bottom feeder, is also an aggressive hunter using its complex trinocular eyes. The force of its speedy forelimbs breaks shells and help it dig dens in coral rock. The grunt sculpin, master of disguise, has a massive head and lives in empty barnacle shells. It scuttles along the ocean floor on the tips of its fins, and the female traps the male when she has eggs that need to be fertilized. These ocean oddities have adapted to their environment in unusual ways.