Batfish swim close to the ocean mph 12 mph (20 km/h) floor. DIET Small snails, clams, shrimp, worms, and fish STATS AND FACTS DEPTH ft 200 400 A batfish gets its name because its slow, m 60 120 crawling gait looks like 9¾–480 ft 180 that of a bat clambering SPEED (3–146 m) over the ground.LOCATION Cocos and Galápagos Islands in the eastern Pacific Ocean.HABITAT Tropical coastal waters on mud and sandy bottoms.Although it is capable of swimming, this fish spends much of its time “walking” on the sea floor with stiffened leglike fins. When this pokes out, its tip releases a perfume into the water to entice prey. The batfish has a stubby fishing pole hidden under the “horn” on its forehead. WALKING WONDER RED-LIPPED BATFISH No one knows for sure why the red-lipped batfish wears so much face paint, but there is no mistaking how it gets its dinner. Usually two Broad “wings” are venomous hugely expanded spines pectoral fins Paler underside lacks AMAZING ANATOMY the dark pigment of the camouflaged upper surface 51 Seawater taken in through These are sharp enough the mouth leaves through gill slits to inject a painful venom. N 2–2¾ in (5–7 cm) 4 UMBER OF YOUNG 710 STINGING SPINES UNDERSIDE The ray has one or two The ray’s mouth is on its underside- jagged spines along its perfect for grabbing food from the tail that cause the sting. STATS AND FACTS Mouth MAXIMUM WIDTH Gill slits in 4 8 12 The ray uses its tail 16 to whip a predator, cm 10 20 30 SPINE LENGTH 12 in (30 cm) and sometimes the 40 venomous spine’s tip in 1 2 3 breaks off in the cm 2.5 5 7.5 victim’s skin.MAX. Like other rays, its side fins are massively expanded to form “wings,” which it can flap to “fly” through the water. Winged wanderer The stingray spends much of its time on the bottom, but it is also a graceful swimmer. This allows the ray to keep watch over the sands for danger or food. DIET Snails, worms, shrimp, and crabs The eyes are prominent, sticking up from the ray’s flat body.LOCATION Red Sea, Indian, and west Pacific Oceans EYE HORNS.
on coral reefs But step on its stinging tail spine, and the pain will be excruciating! It waits patiently for something tasty to crawl by so it can smother the prey with its pancake-shaped body and eat it. HABITAT Sandy patches and caves dappled sunlight.SIZE 27½–35 in (70–90 cm) on the bottom of a reef, the spots make it tricky to see its outline in the.SPOTTED STINGER AT A GLANCE RIBBON-TAILED STINGRAY Tail used for self-defense In a tropical fish, blue spots can be used to attract attention, but this ray uses them to disguise itself. DIET Sucks blood of other fish and sometimes blood of whales or dolphins larvae filter feed on tiny plankton STATS AND FACTS 22 MIGRATION DISTANCE YEARS miles 150 300 450 600 AXIMUM LIFESPAN MTEETH IN MOUTH AMAZING ANATOMY km 250 500 750 1,000 100 12–525 miles/20–850 km 6 years (from sea to spawning grounds) (larva in TIME fresh water) 2 years 2 years (juvenile in (adult at sea) estuaries) years 2 4 6 8 10 10 years (typical lifespan) 49.Mediterranean Sea, North America, and Europe LOCATION Northern Atlantic Ocean, the odd scale along the way.Then the mouth rasps away until it draws blood, swallowing Its teeth hook onto adults migrate inland to rivers and streams to breed the side of a fish. HABITAT Seas and oceans as blood-sucking A lamprey attacks anything big enough of mouth to take its weight.SIZE 23½–47 in (60–120 cm) long around rim carries sharp teeth.The larva grows by filtering plankton, before swimming into the sea and turning to meatier things. It is a gory life for a fish that spends its early years in rivers as a tiny, harmless, wormlike larva. Instead it has a mouth like a sucker, with teeth that rasp a wound into the flesh of other fish. OCEAN VAMPIRE AT A GLANCE SEA LAMPREY The sea lamprey is a bloodthirsty animal, but it cannot bite because it has no jaws.
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