Coloration in the animal kingdom plays a wide variety of roles to attract the opposite sex, warn enemies, or hide. As with terrestrial animals, the inhabitants of the ocean can have the same bright color. Here is a list of some incredibly colorful ocean creatures.
Worm Christmas Tree
The tubular polychaete marine worm, or Christmas tree worm, is a colorful marine creature found in tropical oceans throughout the world. These worms have two brightly colored Christmas trees like crowns. This sea creature was named after these crowns with colorful spiral feathers. The feathers of these worms can be dyed in a variety of colors including red, orange, yellow, white and pink. The Christmas Tree worm also uses its feathers for feeding. They easily trap plankton and other small creatures, after which special eyelashes transport food to the worm’s mouth.
Jellyfish Flower Hat
The Flower Hat Jellyfish is a colorful, rare Western Pacific species of jellyfish that looks like a hat with flowers. They have bright, multi-colored tentacles protected by a transparent, pinstriped dome. The color of this jellyfish can be varied: yellow, orange, pink, purple, green and blue. They use their tentacles to catch small fish and sting their enemies painfully. The sting of the flower cap is not fatal to humans, but it is very painful. I also advise you to visit a selection of interesting facts about jellyfish, where you will learn a lot of interesting things.
Nudibranch mollusk
Nudibranch mollusks have a jelly-shaped body without a shell and are found in all the world’s oceans. There are over 3,000 species of nudibranchs in the world. These clams are known for their striking vibrant color. Some varieties of this mollusk have a color pattern that matches their surroundings. They use this coloration as their main defense mechanism to escape predators. At the same time, some other nudibranch species use their intensely bright color to warn predators of venom and scare them away. These molluscs mainly live on the ocean floor and cannot swim or move fast. Some species feed on sponges, while others feed on sea slugs. Most of them consume only one type of prey.
sea anemone
The sea anemone, or sea anemone, got its name in honor of the anemone flower, which is similar in color to the earth. There are over a thousand described species of sea anemones throughout the world’s oceans. They spend most of their time stuck to the seafloor with their sticky tentacles. The color of anemones ranges from pale to bright fluorescent colors. The sea anemone has a cylindrical body and hundreds of venom-filled tentacles surrounding a central mouth. They use these tentacles to search for food by injecting the victim with a paralyzing neurotoxin.
Starfish
One of the most beautiful and colorful sea creatures can also be found in all of the world’s oceans. There are 1,500 known varieties of starfish. These creatures come in striking colors that include various shades of grey, brown, blue, orange and red. The insanely bright colors of starfish allow them not only to hide, but also to warn potential predators. Sea stars belong to the family of sea cucumbers and urchins. While the five-tentacled species are best known, some species have 10, 20, or up to 40 tentacles.
parrot fish
The colorful parrotfish are named after the parrot because of their beak. There are 90 species of parrotfish found in subtropical and shallow tropical oceans worldwide. Sex and coloration change repeatedly during the development of the fish. Almost all varieties are born female and change their sex to male later. In earlier phases, the color of the parrotfish may be brown, gray or red. As it matures, the color changes to bright green or blue.
Blue Surgeon
The blue surgeonfish is one of the popular marine aquarium fish found in the Indo-Pacific. The Blue Surgeon is also known as the Royal Surgeon or the Hippo Surgeon. This fish has a gorgeous blue body, yellow tail and beautiful black markings. Young tangs are bright yellow with blue patches around the eyes. But in the final phase of development, most of their body turns blue, with dark markings. These inhabitants of the ocean live both separately and in groups of up to 10–12 participants. They primarily feed on seaweed and plankton.
angel fish
The king angelfish lives in the tropical zones of the Indo-Pacific Ocean. They are known for their vibrant colors and patterns. The body of the angelfish has alternating bluish white and orange stripes. Beautiful patterns appear on the dorsal fins, and the caudal fin is painted in dark yellow. The maximum size of these fish is up to 9.8 inches. The angel feeds on sponges and tunics.
mantis shrimp
There are over 400 varieties of mantis shrimp in the world. They live in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The very bright color of their shell varies from red, orange and blue to green. The eyes of the mantis shrimp also come in a variety of colors and are considered the most elaborate visual system ever discovered in the animal kingdom. They see both polarized and extreme purple, have 12 different types of photoreceptors to analyze colors when humans only have four visual receptors. Mantis shrimp have trinocular vision, which helps them see each object with three different parts of the eye.
Clown fish
Clown fish are some of the most colorful and beautiful fish in the world. Their body color can be orange, red, or yellow with distinctive white stripes. This coloration also makes the clownfish one of the most recognizable reef dwellers in the world. There are 30 known species of this fish found within the shallow waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Clownfish are also known as anemone fish because they live freely with poisonous anemones, benefiting from their mutual life. Clownfish can swim freely between the poisonous tentacles of sea anemones, while defending themselves from potential predators. At the same time, the fast movement of the fish helps the anemones increase circulation and find food.