UNICORNS, DRAGONS & ANGELS!! They ARE real! They DO exist! Pics to Prove it!

[diala84]

Not quite as majestic as the fantasy versions, lol.

[Hurricanekiz]

I believe that people made it up over time.

[dmahoney]

some human looking lips on them too 

[africanclaudie]

Thank you so much for this wonderful thread. I have learnt so much here! the photos and descriptions are fascinating! 

[unicornpegius]

Why not at one time or another these did exist. We believed that on other planets at one time that life did not exist , ah then they found water. Doesn't water carry living microorganisms and are they not living creatures?

[95langy]

where's the dragon and angel?

[duroz]

where's the dragon and angel?

The first "dragon" (blue dragon sea slug) pic is on page one of the thread, more dragon pics on page two and the "sea angel" pics are on page two. 

[duroz]

some human looking lips on them too 

Indeed! I thought there was something kind of human looking about their faces in general.

[duroz]

I think this little guy (gal?) is really kind of cute! It's so "happy-looking", it almost looks like it's smiling!  

                 

The Axolotl is a curious creature native to Mexico. It is a type of salamander that does not complete its development in the adult phase – it stays a larva and never grows up. Thus, the gills remain and the Axolotl is 100% aquatic, despite the small legs it has.

Adult Axolotls range in size from 15 cm (5.85 in) to 45 cm (17.5 in) long and have a wide variety of colors, including grey, shades of brown, yellow and red. They also have harlequin mixtures of colors and patterns. They look like very large tadpoles, with legs and prominent gills. Female axolotls have wider bodies than males, and males have swollen clocae (multi-purpose posterior opening). They use their external gills to extract oxygen from water, but can also gulp air from the surface, using buccal pumping - opening and closing the bottom part of the mouth.

The Axolotl's natural habitat has always been restricted to two lakes in Mexico: Lake Chalco and Lake Xochimilco. Lake Chalco was drained to prevent annual flooding, so the species has been confined to the Xochimilco lake district, which has become a series of canals, more than a real lake.

Their wild habitat has been shrinking in recent years, due to pollution and the introduction of carp and other non-indigenous fish into the lake. These fish feed on the axolotl young and on the eggs. The Xochimilco lake and its surrounding wetlands are used for the supply of water to Mexico City, and the city's increasing size is putting a strain on the species. There are as few as 700 to 1,200 individual Axolotls alive in the lake, located in six separate regions.

              You may "recognize" the cartoon form of the Axolotl (from the Pokemon series) - “Mudkip”

                            

*While looking for info on the Axolotl on different sites, I found out that people DO keep these cute little salamanders as pets.

[duroz]

THIS ONE is as UGLY as the last one was CUTE:

                  

Looking like aliens from another world, these scale worms (Polychaetes) inhabit the depths of around 3200 ft (1000 m) where it is pitch dark and the pressure is immense.

Their ability to survive in most extreme conditions, including both the freezing sub-zero temperatures of the sea floor and the almost 750 °F (400 °C) super-heated waters near the hydrothermal vents makes them capable of survival in basically any conditions found on Earth, which has truly fascinated the scientific community around the globe.

With size of approximately 1 in (2-3 cm), scale worms can turn their mouth inside-out in order to capture prey more effectively, contributing to their already alien-like appearance.

As the volcanic vents are also believed to exist on Europa, the sixth closest moon of the planet Jupiter, many scientists are hoping to find connection with potential life on other planets, meaning that these alien-looking worms actually might help in discovery of real-life extraterrestrial creatures.

                                    

Due to the complete lack of sunlight, the entire surrounding of these thermal vents produces energy from chemistry rather than photosynthesis, meaning that Polychaetes are hosts to symbiotic bacteria that provides them with nutrients.

Certain factors even indicate that the bacteria is what the worms rely on in order to survive.


Much is yet to be discovered about these scale worms. The fascinating ability to survive and the connection with alien species certainly has left many impatiently waiting for results of further research. 

[jcribb16]

Wow!  Such differences between the Axolotl and the Deep Sea Scale Worm!  Like you said, one's as ugly as the other is cute, lol. 

The Worm is definitely alien looking, lol.. Maybe now we have figured out where the writers of alien movies get their inspiration from? 

Pokemon's Mudkip being based on the Axolotl is really cute!  He looks so friendly, lol.

Here's one I thought was weird:

"What big teeth!

Imagine living in the sea where it is permanently dark, cold, and food is hard to find. For many animals at depth, it may be weeks to months between meals. If you find something to eat, you have to hang on to it. This is why so many deep-sea fishes have lots of big teeth. This dragonfish, spotted off the coast of Australia, even has teeth on its tongue. They would be terrifying animals … if they weren’t the size of a banana."

[duroz]

Wow!  Such differences between the Axolotl and the Deep Sea Scale Worm!  Like you said, one's as ugly as the other is cute, lol.  

The Worm is definitely alien looking, lol.. Maybe now we have figured out where the writers of alien movies get their inspiration from?  

Pokemon's Mudkip being based on the Axolotl is really cute!  He looks so friendly, lol.

Here's one I thought was weird:

"What big teeth!

Imagine living in the sea where it is permanently dark, cold, and food is hard to find. For many animals at depth, it may be weeks to months between meals. If you find something to eat, you have to hang on to it. This is why so many deep-sea fishes have lots of big teeth. This dragonfish, spotted off the coast of Australia, even has teeth on its tongue. They would be terrifying animals … if they weren’t the size of a banana."

 
 

I saw a picture of that one somewhere too......but I didn't check it out, and didn't know it was called a Dragonfish.
Scary-looking teeth, indeed!!

I started a new topic - "Real Live Monsters......of the Sea," (and @ jcribb16 - I re-posted both of our "Monster" posts over there to start it off....)

I thought we could put all the ugly and scary-looking ones there, and put the cool-looking, or "pretty" or cute ones here.

[duroz]

      
                                 Psychedelic frogfish
                                 (Histiophryne psychedelica)

The psychedelic frogfish is a small creature, growing to just 6 inches long, and lives in the ocean near Bali and Indonesia.
It is endemic to Ambon island, and spends most of its time in shallow waters close to shore.
It gets the first part of its name from its skin, a beautiful swirling pattern of yellow, white and dark orange.

The psychedelic frogfish's skin is unique to each fish, just as our fingerprints are to us.  
It is also unique among fish because of its flat face, which gives it the same depth perception as humans.  

The psychedelic frogfish moves by walking on its pectoral fins over the seafloor, and has been observed using its fins to push off from the sea floor while at the same time shooting water through its gills to propel itself forward via jet propulsion. When doing so, the fish takes on a ball shape, and its behavior takes on that of a bouncing beach ball in the wind.

The psychedelic frogfish was first "discovered" in 1992, in a shipment of assorted fishes sent from Bali, Indonesia, to the Dallas World Aquarium. They were in "very poor condition", and they died that same month.

The specimens were preserved and sent to evolutionary biologist, Theodore Wells Pietsch, for identification, along with a photo of very poor quality.

However, after having been "fixed" and preserved in chemicals, their colors had faded, and their faces had lost their distinct shape.
As a result, when the fish were analyzed, they were misidentified.

The specimens were then preserved and placed on a shelf, and no one returned to them until their recent rediscovery in 2008.

I think these are really cool-looking!!  I love their colorful swirly skin!   It reminds me of some kind of glass, or something....I can't put my finger on what exactly, though.  (I'll have to post back here if I find the inanimate object that the psychedelic frogfish reminds me of, or that it looks like).

I thought it was interesting to read that it was only recently "discovered" (as the psychedelic frogfish, that is).

Amazing.....makes one wonder how much is still waiting to be discovered.
    

[OneUniqueQueen]

Hmm, interesting. Never seen them before. Quite unusual indeed. 

[catherinedwhite]

Cool photos.
Thanks for sharing these.  I never knew....