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Writer's pictureChica Jo

Belle of the Masked, UnderSea Ball


My fanciful paper cutting and cyanotype print of a scorpionfish skull and creosote bush disguised as a living scorpionfish hiding among sargassum.


Have you been snorkeling along the edge of one of our seaweed-covered rock reefs and let your self pretend that you're actually flying around a tropical rainforest? It's surprisingly similar, really. Lots of frilly stuff growing on fringed stuff that's already growing on something else. In both ecosystems, prey get stronger and more crafty at eluding predators, causing the predators to get stronger and more crafty at catching them. Both tropical rainforests and intertidal zones are known for heavy competition among species for limited resources which leads to a startling variety of lifeforms with wildly ingenious adaptations. Disguise, in particular, becomes a matter of life and death.

In the rainforest, one of my favorite ambush predators to observe as they rest in-wait for naïve prey is the praying mantis. They often have growths on their exoskeletons that look just like the super frilly lichen and small, epiphytic plants found living on any available surface. These mantids have even learned to let themselves rock back and forth when there's a breeze, so as to mimic a bunch of plant matter swaying with the air current.


Paul's photo of a mantis in disguise, with some of her newly hatched babies hanging around!


My favorite mistress of deadly disguise here in our Sea of Cortez is the blessedly overlooked Pacific Spotted Scorpionfish (Scorpaena mystes). Like tropical mantids, they lay in wait for their unsuspecting prey, usually small fish, as they sway in the current among seaweed covered rocks. Their bodies and fins have adaptations that look exactly like the seaweed and encrusting algae where they live. Some even have a little extra dangly bit right above their mouths. These well-placed projections lure those small fish in for an "Is that food?" look. Certainly the last words of many a small fish in Scorpionfish territory!


Use the arrow to see both of Paul's photos of this gorgeously disguised scorpion fish!


So, why did I say these beasts are blessedly overlooked? Because their flesh is super tasty. It's only their venomous spines, that endanger careless human anglers, that likely have kept them from being targeted and over fished. This lack of human attention also means that their behavior has been understudied. Any budding ichthyologists out there? Our scorpionfish would make a fascinating research subject for you.


¿Ha estado buceando a lo largo del borde de uno de nuestros arrecifes rocosos cubiertos de algas y se permitió fingir que en realidad está volando alrededor de una selva tropical? En realidad, es sorprendentemente similar. Un montón de cosas con volantes que crecen en cosas con flecos que ya crecen en otra cosa. En ambos ecosistemas, las presas se vuelven más fuertes y más hábiles para eludir a los depredadores, lo que hace que los depredadores se vuelvan más fuertes y más hábiles para atraparlos. Tanto las selvas tropicales como las zonas intermareales son conocidas por una fuerte competencia entre especies por recursos limitados, lo que conduce a una sorprendente variedad de formas de vida con adaptaciones tremendamente ingeniosas. El disfraz, en particular, se convierte en una cuestión de vida o muerte.


En la selva, uno de mis depredadores de emboscada favoritos para observar mientras descansan a la espera de una presa ingenua es la mantis religiosa. A menudo tienen crecimientos en sus exoesqueletos que se parecen a los líquenes con volantes y las plantas pequeñas y epífitas que viven en cualquier superficie disponible. Estas mantis incluso han aprendido a balancearse hacia adelante y hacia atrás cuando hay una brisa, para imitar un montón de materia vegetal que se balancea con la corriente de aire.


Mi amante favorita del disfraz mortal aquí en nuestro Mar de Cortés es el pez escorpión manchado del Pacífico (Scorpaena mystes), que se ha pasado por alto. Como mantis tropicales, aguardan a sus presas desprevenidas, generalmente peces pequeños, mientras se mecen en la corriente entre rocas cubiertas de algas. Sus cuerpos y aletas tienen adaptaciones que se ven exactamente como las algas marinas y las algas incrustantes donde viven. Algunos incluso tienen un poco más colgando justo encima de la boca. Estas proyecciones bien ubicadas atraen a esos peces pequeños a un "¿Eso es comida?" Mira. ¡Ciertamente, las últimas palabras de muchos peces pequeños en el territorio del pez escorpión!


Entonces, ¿por qué dije que estas bestias se pasan por alto afortunadamente? Porque su carne es súper sabrosa. Son solo sus espinas venenosas, las que ponen en peligro a los pescadores humanos descuidados, lo que probablemente les ha impedido ser atacados y sobrepescados. Esta falta de atención humana también significa que su comportamiento ha sido poco estudiado. ¿Algún ictiólogo en ciernes por ahí? Nuestro pez escorpión sería un tema de investigación fascinante para usted


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2 Comments


robseacow
Oct 21, 2020

Love it! Great photos! Many long years ago I cautiously swam past the East Coast version of ugly at a depth of 125'. We called these aggressive monsters allmouths (shallow-water angler). Paul's wonderful pics reminded me of that one: six feet long, with an eye at the size of a baseball. Even the small ones would hang on to our lobster bag.

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harveyburgess1
Oct 13, 2020

Really great artwork and pics by the dynamic duo. Plus the usual array of new words too - ichthyology / epiphytic....... Wow, the mantis and the scorpion bring a whole new dimension to the word: cunning. Incredible how evolution has allowed them to develop appendages that mimic the natural world.

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