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5 Awesome Marine Animal Defense Mechanisms

5 Awesome Marine Animal Defense Mechanisms

Written by Leisure Pro Staff
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Published on March 15, 2015

All animals have built-in defense mechanisms, and they can range from passive to hyper-aggressive, with violence and bloodshed sure to ensue from any threat to survival. Marine animals employ a wide variety of defense mechanisms, from marvelous camouflage to shedding limbs, and each is extraordinary in its execution. Let’s take a look at just five awesome marine animal defense mechanisms that are used on the undersea battlefield.

Sea Cucumber

The sea cucumber is widely known among predators as not being good eating, due in large part to their toxin content, but also due to a bizarre defense mechanism: the sea cucumber can eject a mass of sticky tubules from their anus that are designed to entangle would-be predators. Some species simultaneously release a toxic chemical, adding to the power of this marine animal defense mechanism.

Pufferfish

The chubby little pufferfish may look like good eating from afar, but any predator that tries to gulp down this marine species will be in for a surprise. The exterior of the pufferfish is covered in small spines that lay flat until the fish is agitated, causing it to inhale water or air that pop those little spines right up and into anything that happens to be close enough to get poked. Ingesting a puffed-up pufferfish can result in the predator choking or meeting its fate later on as its body digests a belly full of tetrodotoxin.

Hagfish

The hagfish has one of the more disgusting marine animal defense mechanisms, as if just being called the hagfish wasn’t enough. Since marine animals don’t make a habit of becoming acquainted by the names we call them, any unwitting predator that tries to make a meal of this eel-like fish will be accosted with a load of slime secreted from glands that run along the hagfish’s flanks, resulting in suffocation of the predator due to clogged gills.

Squid

In addition to the iconic ink that cuttlefish and octopus also deploy to evade predators, the Octopoteuthis deletron species of squid will also detach its arms if necessary to avoid becoming a predator’s next meal. Using hooks at the end of the arm, Octopoteuthis deletron will embed it into the predator’s flesh and jet away, leaving only the arm attached to its assailant. As an added measure of defense, this species also has light-emitting organs on the ends of its tentacles to further distract and confuse prey as it makes its getaway.

Boxer Crab

Also known by the adorable nickname “pom pom crab,” the boxer crab is anything but adorable when threatened, brandishing two front arms with anemones on the tips to challenge any hungry predator to a boxing match. The anemones contain a stinging venom that quickly lets enemies know the boxer crab means business. This marine animal defense mechanism is also a great example of a symbiotic relationship in nature, since the anemone benefits by being spirited away to a variety of new food sources on a constant basis. Corals and sponges are also sometimes unwitting participants in the boxer crab’s defense when anemones are not available.

Leisure Pro Staff

Leisure Pro Staff

Marketing Director for LeisurePro