We've profiled some pretty amazing sea creatures here on FEARNET over the years, from the real-life 'Cookie Monster' fish to creepy alien shrimp. But a sea creature that's totally see-through? Now this is a new one!
Fisherman Stewart Frasier recently hooked the bizarre fish you see above off the coast of the Karikari Peninsula in New Zealand, reports The Huffington Post. Fraser spotted the translucent fish swimming towards him and though he was hesitant at first to bring it aboard, he eventually worked up the courage to snatch it up and document the unique find. “It felt scaly and was quite firm, almost jelly like, and you couldn’t see anything inside aside from this orange little blob inside it,” noted Fraser.
What is it, exactly? The fish has been identified as a sea salp, a marine invertebrate with a gelatinous body that is actually quite common in the Southern Ocean. Why then are they so rarely found? Because their translucent appearance essentially camoflauges them in the water, making them very hard to spot. "Their transparency is quite remarkable," says marine biologist Dr. Dennis Gordon.
Never ceases to amaze me how many creatures are out there in the water, that we haven't yet seen. Makes ya wonder...