Yes , this fish has spines . Yes , this Pisces releases toxins . No , that ’s not the reason why you should n’t contact it , though . You ’ll love why you should n’t relate it when you rule out what it has instead of scales .
Image : Luc Viatour /www . Lucnix.be
The mandarinfish has a few good qualities . It charter in a charming conjugation dancing . A male courtyard several females , until one decides she like him , at which point they copulate off and do a kind of swimming - saltation together . The fish is one of only two vertebrates that can produce a dreary pigment . Most blue - colored vertebrates just layer crystal until they create an interference convention in forthcoming luminosity that looks blue . This one produces blue coloured proteins and arranges them in stunning pattern that make believe it a favorite among masses with house marine museum .
The mandarinfish has a few less pleasing qualities . It has spur that will stick the hand of anyone who tries to touch it , and it give rise toxins that can be dangerous — especially if they occur in touch with capable wound . But these are minor drawbacks . Its main drawback is that it stink . Every scientist and book that talks about the mandarinfish makes mention of its strong , unpleasant flavor . That mephitis is not incidental . The mandarinfish need the smell , and the spines , because it lacks one of the most canonic protective measure in the marine earth : It does n’t have scale leaf .
Any vulture that gets a storage area of the Pisces will injure it a heavy deal . Its best hope for selection is making itself so unappealing that nothing want to eat up it . The smelling helps ward predators off , but what about the element ? The Pisces the Fishes still has to deal with the dust and grit that it swims through . It does so , by coating itself with a “ thick layer of mucous secretion . ”
Yep , arguably the most beautiful fish in the ocean , and an unusual person of animal pigmentation , goes around perpetually oozing thick , smelly snot , which it uses to cover its entire torso . And yes , some of the Pisces ’s toxins are mixed into its mucous secretion finishing . So if you do decide to observe these animals matte up underwater , and you palpate gruesome later , you now cognize what got in your sass .
[ informant : Skin Structure in Six Dragonet Species , Mandarin - Fish , Diving With Mandarinfish . ]
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