South Africa’s weird and wonderful marine life

Having two oceans encompassing our coastline, South Africa has a rich marine diversity. To celebrate National Marine Week, here are 10 weird and wonderful marine critters that call our coast home.

1. Filefish

 

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A post shared by Torsten Behrendt (@torsten_aka_rwc_turbo_8) on Sep 16, 2019 at 1:04am PDT

Filefish are also known as foolfish, leatherjackets or shingles. These fish are flat and the front part of their bodies are deep, giving them a triangular shape.

2. Crocodile fish

 

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A post shared by Peter Ansems (@peteransems57) on Jul 14, 2016 at 8:59pm PDT

These fish look like a lion fish and a spade sand skate had a baby. They are bottom-dwelling fish that are very camoflaged and can grow up to 1 metre in size.

3. Flounders

 

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A post shared by Fascinated about underwater (@aquarium_fans) on Oct 4, 2019 at 1:19am PDT

Much to my dismay, flounders are not how Disney depicted them. These fish are in fact, master camouflagers. Their eyes are usually on one side of their flattened bodies and can be tricky to spot when in costume.

3. Flatworms

 

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A post shared by Juho Karhu (@jk_uw_photography) on Aug 18, 2019 at 10:03am PDT

These flat, leaf life creatures are marvellous to look at. They grow between 10 and 30 cm and vary in colour, from green and grey to black and vivid orange.

4. Frogfish

 

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A post shared by Valerie (@lifesatrip4) on Oct 7, 2019 at 12:44am PDT

This sea creature is particularly mesmerising. Frogfish snatch up their prey when contact is made with a fleshy tentacle, causing their jaw to spring open.

5. Lizardfish

 

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A post shared by Mike Rudenko (@mauispeardiver) on Sep 29, 2019 at 9:21pm PDT

These lean, mean fighting machines have sharp teeth in both jaws that help them snatch up their unsuspecting prey. These critters grow between 20-60cm in length.

6. Pineapplefish

 

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A post shared by Lemon TYK (@kaithefishguy) on Dec 5, 2018 at 6:17am PST

The pineapplefish’ name is equally as cool as its markings. These fish are orange by day and blue-green by night and they have a bioluminiscent organ, called a photophore, on either side of its lower jaw.

7. Sea spiders

 

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A post shared by Lisa Beasley (@lisambeasley) on Jan 3, 2018 at 8:48am PST

Nothing terrifies me more than spiders and the fact that sea spiders exist is harrowing, even if they aren’t true spiders. These creepy crawlies can vary in size, from 1 cm to 1 metre, lovely.

8. Slipper lobster

 

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A post shared by YM Travel Log (@namatabi_ym) on Sep 8, 2019 at 3:55am PDT

These cute crustaceans are similar to lobsters but have a set of large, shovel-like antennae. The slipper lobster is closely related to spiny and coral lobsters.

9. Unicornfish

 

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A post shared by Oceana (@oceana) on Sep 4, 2016 at 7:40am PDT

Where there’s sea spiders, there are unicornfish. These fish have sharp spins on their tail base and if provoked, they will attack.

10. Red lionfish

 

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A post shared by Miguel Vila (@miguevila) on Nov 9, 2018 at 7:59am PST

The king of the sea, the red lionfish is a sea creature you admire from afar. Their mane is made from spiky dorsal fins that are venemous but not deadly.

Image: Unsplash