WEIRD LOOKING ANIMALS

STAR-NOSED MOLE

No longer than an average woman’s shoe size, the star-nosed

mole is a small mole with 22 unique pink appendages surrounding

its snout. It uses these tentacle-like appendages to feel its way

around and detect if prey is edible (and eat it) – performing these

mental operations as quick as neurons can physically process.

The 22 appendages have 25,000 Eimer’s organs which act as

touch receptors (like those on our fingers).

SCORPION FLY

Pairing one of our biggest fears with an insect, the scorpion fly

has nine families with about 500 species across the globe, that’s

a big family! What will really throw you off is what its scorpion-like

appendage is for – it’s the male’s genitals. One of the families,

the Bittacidae, has a unique mating ritual. The male captures prey,

as large as possible and coaxes the female over with

pheromones. She examines the prey, their first date and honeymoon

dinner and either flies away (she rejects it) or begins eating, at

which point the male mounts the female and begins to mate.

JAPANESE SPIDER CRAB

A gargantuan and strange animal, the Japanese spider crab has

the largest leg span of any arthropod, reaching up to 12ft (3.8m)

from claw to claw. Despite their daunting appearance, the

Japanese spider crab is said to have a peaceful, gentle disposition.

SARCASTIC FRINGEHEAD

The Pacific Ocean’s sarcastic fringehead can open its fanged-mouth

to an enormous size to scare off predators. To establish dominance,

two male fringeheads will stretch their mouths as wide as

possible and ram them together in a UWWF (Under Water World

Wrestling Federation) match which looks more like a make-out session.

MACROPINNA MICROSTOMA

A rarely seen and little understood sea creature, macropinna microstoma

looks like something out of a child’s colouring book. Its head is

covered by a transparent, fluid-filled dome. Moreover, it has

barrel-shaped eyes which point up (through the dome) while it’s

horizontal in the water and can even be rotated forward if it

changes position. This is one of the strangest looking animals,

largely for those eyes which feel like they’re following you.

RED-LIPPED BATFISH

A sea-dweller always ready for a hot date, the red-lipped batfish

is a strange looking fish which lives primarily around the

Galapagos Islands. Harmless to humans, the red-lipped batfish

lures prey in with an ilium, just like an angler fish. Marine

scientists aren’t entirely sure why it has such bright red lips

but speculate they may help different batfish species

recognize each other during spawning.

MANTIS SHRIMP

The real champ of UWWF, the mantis shrimp can punch at up to

75ft per second (23 m/s) from a stopped position – that’s enough

to break aquarium glass. Even if the shrimp misses, the resulting

shockwave from the punch can paralyze the animal it swings at.

The shockwave’s bubbles accelerate so quickly they can be up to

several thousand degrees Kelvin. (Just 1,000 K is 1,340°F or 727°C.)

SOFT-SHELLED TURTLE

A popular food item throughout Asia, the soft-shelled turtle is a

peculiar-looking reptile. This turtle uses its seemingly-oversized

neck with long, snorkel-like nostrils for a variety of purposes,

including to breathe air from the surface while keeping its body

submerged, sometimes up to a whole foot away. (One advantage

of their soft shells is they can travel much faster on land,

reputably up to 15 mph).