Sea Cone: The Pineapple Fish You Can't Eat! Her scales are like armor, and her mouth spews light (7 photos)

There are sea cucumbers, sea urchins and sea horses. So, now the sea cones have arrived. Or pineapples. It all depends on what angle you look at our today’s hero - the sea conefish.





To collect a basket of such sea cones, the clubfoot bear would have to go on a tour to the Indian or Pacific Ocean. And even scuba dive - fish live at depths from 10 to 200 meters. But all this torment is probably worth it: the fish cone turns out to be of good quality - 22 centimeters in length, 500 grams of weight.



Conefish live in flocks, but it is difficult to see them - during the day they hide in the stones.

A logical question: if there are no fir trees and pines under water, where do the cones come from? Here’s the thing: our friend is his own Christmas tree. The entire body of the fish is strewn with transparent and damn sharp needles. Gobbling up a pine cone is like grabbing a whole pine branch. Theoretically it is possible, but it is extremely traumatic.





If you look closely, the whole fish consists of small spines.

The defensive benefits of the cone don’t end there. The large scales, which make it related to the fruits of coniferous trees, are not only beautiful, but also durable. These are real knight's armor. Only after pumping up the heavy armor to the maximum, the fish’s agility dropped. It is extremely difficult for the slow and clumsy pineapple to get along with the wild pace of sea reefs. Therefore, he gets out of the shelter at night. The city falls asleep - the cone-makers wake up.



The fish successfully combines night watch with night watch. In the latter, he is helped by special “flashlights” on his jaw - luminescent bacteria. In the role of unquenchable photocells are Fischer's vibrios, the closest relatives of the cholera bacillus.



If the blood of luminescent bacteria mowed down people in batches, then Fischer’s vibrios, on the contrary, saved fish from starvation. Since our hero can barely move his soul in his body, he cannot engage in active hunting. But the cone plant doesn’t need it: the light that Fischer’s vibrios emit attracts small crustaceans and fish. In this case, the prey itself swims directly into the sea cone’s mouth - the “lanterns” are located inside the lower jaw. The fish just needs to open its mouth and wait.



And thanks to the light from the mouth, fish communicate with each other.

Aquarists are very fond of our hero for his unusual look in the style of a cone (or pineapple) and his peaceful disposition. True, not only everyone can keep it: the cone plant needs special conditions, and in principle it will not reproduce in captivity.



But the cone fry are stunningly beautiful

But in their native element, scientists have not yet been able to spy on the love games of bigwigs. The fishcake is supposed to end with a “swim, sausage” message to the eggs. And they somehow continue to spin around in the water column. And, if everything goes according to plan, a new generation of fish will be rummaging along the bottom with a flashlight for the next 9 years.