The Pacific spiny lumpsucker ( Eumicrotremus orbis ) normally looks like a doe - eyed tennis ball , but when Leo Smith decide to take a photo of it , the fish train on the appearance of something direct out of a horror movie .
That ’s because Smith , who is a professor of environmental science and evolutionary biology at the University of Kansas , used a Frankenstein - similar process to charm the “ demonic ” photo .
Smith toldLive Sciencethat he captured the lumpsucker ’s unusually bristled skeleton as it fluoresce Bolshevik under the microscope . Via a cognitive operation called “ clearing and sully ” , Smith used special percolate attachments to hide all but the light show .
First , he clear up the fish by immerse it in a bathroom of cow - stomach enzymes that digested its muscles but go away the connective tissue . In doing so , the fish became transparent , but the pearl were still seeable . Then , Smith sully the fish ’s skeleton and gristle with dye . This method see its bones were still encased in flesh and in a position alike to how it would be if still alive .
The process did n’t end there . Smith had to fix up the Pisces the Fishes to look the camera , but without its muscles , it was too floppy . He suspended the Pisces in a glue mixture made of gelatine and glycerin that was “ gross to contact ” , he told Live Science . Under the fluorescent light , the fish take on its “ demonic ” appearance .
" The specimen lights itself , and everything else in the look-alike disappear , " he enunciate .
Normally , thePacific spiny lumpsuckeris about as cunning as a fish can be . At 2.5 to 7.6 cm ( 1 to 3 in ) , the little swimmers are find oneself in the Pacific Ocean and use suction cup to attach to solid objects so they do n’t blow away . They come in a blanket variety of colors , from shades of dark-brown to green , often with scandalmongering or orange highlights .
But do n’t let their precious appearance fool you . or else of scale , these short buggers are covered in plate - like structures with glob called tubercle that they use to champion against marauder . This , accord to Smith , makes them sense like a cactus . tubercle are find in other specie of fish , and are vulgar in the 28 species of lumpsucker and 430 species of sea snail .
If you ’re still not convinced , take a look at these googly - eyed little buggers yourself .
[ H / T : experience Science ]
