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Discover the Mystical World of Sea Angels: Top 8 Fun Facts You Need to Know!

illustration of sea-angels
Dive into the mysterious world of sea angels and discover a treasure trove of fascinating tidbits that'll have you floating on cloud nine!

1. Sour Self-Defense Potion

If you ever wondered what the secret ingredient in the sea angels' "No-Gobble-Me-Up" potion was, they've got their own brewery going on at the bottom of the Antarctic ocean: Sea angels have evolved a chemical defense mechanism, producing a sour-tasting compound that deters fishy predators, making them the only known mollusk with a self-made chemical defense rather than procuring it from their food sources.
Source => ocean.si.edu

2. Slow-Dance Mating Tango

Ahoy, mateys! Ready to dive deep into the love lives of some peculiar sea dwellers? Well, sea angels would surely win the gold medal for slow dancing, as they embark on a tango of transformation that would impress even the most hardened sailors: These fascinating marine mollusks, exhibiting protandrous hermaphroditism, begin their lives as males before transforming into females, and they engage in a captivating mating dance lasting up to four hours before the female releases her eggs, all the while undergoing a metamorphosis as they shed their shells and evolve into delicate, soft-bodied creatures.
Source => ocean.si.edu

3. Devious Dining Strategy

Hark! The angel of the sea has descended upon the arctic waters, not with a golden harp or chorus of cherubs, but equipped with a taste for terror and a devious dining strategy: Beneath their heavenly facade, sea angels are voracious predators that specialize in capturing and devouring sea butterflies using astonishingly fearsome techniques.
Source => earthlingnature.wordpress.com

4. Devilish Appetite

When angels have a devilish appetite: Sea angels are carnivorous creatures that devour their fellow pteropods, the sea butterflies, using tentacle-like appendages with hooks and teeth-like radula to extract their prey from their shells in a truly merciless manner.
Source => oceanconservancy.org

Liquid Luck Shield

5. Liquid Luck Shield

Call it their "Liquid Luck": sea angels whip up a chemical cocktail so potent that it sends bullies scurrying away and gets freeloaders clamoring for a hitch-hike! These superhero mollusks have a secret weapon - a chemical compound that scares off predators, while attracting shrewd amphipods eager to benefit from their chemical shield.
Source => ocean.si.edu

6. Family Snack Time

Who needs family reunions when you can have family snacks? The sea angel seems to have taken the phrase "eating your relatives" quite literally: These fascinating marine critters primarily feast on their shelled cousins, the sea butterflies, by swiftly extracting them from their shells with their buccal cones—a process that can be completed in just two minutes! This seemingly merciless behavior is actually a crucial component of their survival in the vast and perplexing oceanic realm.
Source => ocean.si.edu

7. Underwater Flying Fins

Winged wonders on water, or the next marvelous Marvel superhero: Sea angels show off their flying skills underwater, not with a cape or high-tech gadgets, but with their impressively swift wing-like fins that put even the best butterfly stroke to shame.
Source => ocean.si.edu

8. Heavenly Handshake Slug

With a heavenly handshake and a warm seawater smile, the sea angel graces the depths like a divine, underwater guardian: In reality, these ethereal beings are actually tiny sea slugs called pteropods, found frolicking in the frigid White Sea, and were beautifully captured by photographer Viktor Lyagushkin during a 28-day Arctic Circle ice diving expedition.
Source => nationalgeographic.com

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