Lovely, Beautiful Transparent Fish!

February 24, 2009 11:37 AM

See-through Species!Some quick links to a lovely, transparent fish courtesy of Born Animal and Pharyngula

The beauty of the aquatic world never ceases to amaze and delight me. Enjoy!
and thanks to Mudpuppie and BoringPostcards from Metachat.

posted by Lipstick Thespian (30 comments total)

I see what you thought there
posted by dersins at 11:40 AM on February 24

More pics from MBARI.
posted by mudpuppie at 11:46 AM on February 24

Wow. The video of this thing is just creepy as all hell.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 11:57 AM on February 24 [2 favorites has favorites]

It took some reading for me to get that those little sad-looking things above its mouth are not its eyes. Rather, its eyes are those green hemispherical things inside its head.
posted by MrMoonPie at 11:57 AM on February 24

A friend's comment: "I think he's cute. He looks like a tiny supervillain."
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:03 PM on February 24

Macropinna Microstoma is the name for my new EP.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 12:03 PM on February 24 [1 favorite has favorites]

Awesome.
posted by GuyZero at 12:08 PM on February 24

Good god, the things Lovecraft might have come up with if he had lived in this age of marine biologists freaking the shit out of us in completely new ways with every passing month.
posted by Iosephus at 12:14 PM on February 24 [1 favorite has favorites]

I'd like to believe that when it gets angry or scared, little tiny sparks start jumping around in there.

And then whatever fish was bothering it suddenly and violently turns itself inside out.
posted by quin at 12:17 PM on February 24 [2 favorites has favorites]

Scientific fact: if you take one of these fish out of the water, grip it by the tail and drag its chin over the floor, little red and blue balls start bouncing around inside its head with a pop-pop-pop-pop sound.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 12:39 PM on February 24 [4 favorites has favorites]

My wife won't let me get fish for our freshwater aquarium unless they're opaque. This will definitely freak her out.
posted by odinsdream at 12:40 PM on February 24 [1 favorite has favorites]

WHAT.
THE.
FUCK.
NATURE?
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:05 PM on February 24 [2 favorites has favorites]

oh awesome! i saw transparent fish for the first time just recently in an installation by brazilian artist Cildo Meireles at the Tate Modern (but a different species that was entirely transparent). it absolutely blew my mind. i think this partial transparency may be even more freaky though.
posted by molecicco at 1:27 PM on February 24

Isn't Dr. Wily supposed to be riding in the front of that thing?
posted by Greg Nog at 1:54 PM on February 24

Internal organs are supposed to be hidden, imo.

I also didn't like the late 80s trend of see-through phones where you see all the wiring. Preserve some mystery!
posted by rmless at 2:01 PM on February 24

A moon beam through your head
In red
Reveals your brains
I see your lovely tubes
And in that magic fish tank
I bite your fins
The chips I have for you,
My scrod
Are real and very crisp...
posted by Atom Eyes at 2:16 PM on February 24 [3 favorites has favorites]

little red and blue balls start bouncing around inside its head with a pop-pop-pop-pop sound.

Oh, I miss that. Babies get all the coolest gear.
posted by rokusan at 2:56 PM on February 24

After seeing the pictures and watching the video, did anyone else have to argue with the part of their brain that insists creatures do not have transparent heads, therefore the pictures must be photoshopped and the video created with 3d animation software? Note that I am not claiming this is the case, at all, merely that some part of my brain is still going "but... but... that CAN'T be real... can it?"
posted by FishBike at 4:53 PM on February 24

Oh, so the things that look like its eyes are its nose.
posted by amro at 5:58 PM on February 24

Woah woah, wait. Fish have nostrils?!
posted by dirigibleman at 6:13 PM on February 24

Holy shit, they do! (warning: Comic Sans)

Also clear brainskulls!
posted by dirigibleman at 6:23 PM on February 24

dirigibleman, of course they do - the answer to the question:
How do fish smell?

This fish's video is getting distributed to my email list - it's way neat.
posted by birdsquared at 11:14 PM on February 24

Sometimes, I love science so much it hurts.
posted by JimmyJames at 11:53 PM on February 24

I particularly like how, in the MBARI video, the researchers finally lure (suck) the elusive ocean-bottom dwelling fish into their fancy contraption, and then FAIL to close the lid in time.
posted by Geekyblonde at 9:53 AM on February 25

JimmyJames: "Sometimes, I love science so much it hurts."

Sometimes I love you too.

Geekyblonde: "I particularly like how, in the MBARI video, the researchers finally lure (suck) the elusive ocean-bottom dwelling fish into their fancy contraption, and then FAIL to close the lid in time."

The sheer amount of fail involved in science is ridiculous, seriously. If science was a Hollywood comedy it would get zero laughs and go strait to DVD. But when you take all the best performances of those DVDs and combine them with a well trained and confidant director (Primary Investigator) and a well funded producer (NIH/NHS/etc) you achieve greatness that is rarely seen.

So the scientists failing to capture the fish? It's annoying and frustrating, but it also show's their short comings (like the sound guy forgot to turn the mic on and it wasn't noticed) and leaves open a whole new task/discovery for someone else!
posted by Science! at 2:16 PM on February 26

The sheer amount of fail involved in science is ridiculous, seriously. If science was a Hollywood comedy it would get zero laughs and go strait to DVD.

And to me, those are the best parts of science. Take Edison. When I was a kid, we were taught to rever him as a sort of god-man, from whose palms exuded wonders that rocked human history. It made science seem mythical, mystical, separate from common people like me. Then I learned that for every amazing invention, Edison had hundreds of failures. This gave me hope - it's not some divinely-bestowed gift necessarily that makes someone a great scientist, but an insatiable curiosity and not a little bit of masochism to keep getting back up after getting flattened, over and over again.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 2:23 PM on February 26

And to me, those are the best parts of science.

I truly believe they really are. Not only do they show others inside of and outside of the community that regular failure does not lead to permanent failure as long as lessons are learned and changes made, but failures also illuminate dead ends and help stop other researchers from following the same path to the same end.

That said, use a better trap.
posted by Science! at 3:19 PM on February 26

it should read *public failures also illuminate...
posted by Science! at 3:20 PM on February 26

Those brilliant green "lenses" inside its head do not look like lenses at all, to me.

They look like photomultiplier tubes.
posted by jamjam at 11:05 AM on March 1

On second thought, probably just filters tuned to the specific frequencies of their prey bioluminesence, so that it can pick them out against the 'outer radiance'.
posted by jamjam at 11:21 AM on March 1