Halibut: symmetry is for losers! (7 photos)

The real elite of the seabed - halibut - do not limit themselves to typical shapes and boring rules.





A giant underwater man brought you a giant halibut. Thank you!

Halibuts are the bigwigs of the bottom world. Pisces is invulnerable from below, perfectly protected from the sides by a palisade of studded fins, and from above looks like a pile of sand in the middle of the same piles of sand. Almost flawless disguise. Neither predators nor prey can see it. Therefore, halibut dreams of nightmares in lobsters, crabs and octopuses. After all, fish can overtake you at the most unexpected moment!



I want to devour and shred!

But sometimes halibuts rise from the bottom of the sea, leaving their zone of influence. However, do not say that the fish will become defenseless. Enemies at there are few adult halibuts: sharks, sea lions and killer whales. the rest sea creatures are too tough for fish. Some will be scared away by the size - adults halibut reach a length of 2 meters, and unconfirmed evidence increase this number by 2. It is very difficult for a fish of this size. hunt. But a fisherman unprepared for trash will be scared off by the appearance. Have you ever seen what a halibut looks like?



Two bumps on the muzzle are his eyes.

If our parents blame all health problems computer, then in the case of halibut, skewed eyes are the result of life itself day. Pisces does not swim belly down, but sideways. If not for the anatomical jokes, one eye would always look into the sand. Why deprive yourself of an organ vision? So the halibut came up with: why not move one eye live with someone else?



Well, straighten up! And then you will become like a halibut!

At the same time, halibut is born as a completely normal fish. The female, by the way, does not skimp on offspring: depending on the size, she lays from 400 thousand to 4 million eggs. hatched halibut - quite ordinary fry. They begin their mutation when they reach 4-5 cm long.



Eye on top. Very comfortably. Photo: Roman Fedortsov.

The left half of the skull begins to grow several times faster right. It is because of such anatomical perversions that a feeling is created, as if the left eye "creeps" closer to the right, although the distance between they do not change. But if the fry eats incorrectly, metamorphoses may not happen. Researchers fed flounder and halibut fry brine shrimp - small copepods. They are most often used for fish food in aquariums. On such a diet, strabismus occurred in only 10% fish!



Stages of development of halibut.

But if the fisherman is not afraid of the appearance of the fish, he will receive a treasure trove of vitamins and minerals. 20 grams of protein per 100 grams of body weight almost like a chicken breast! And 300 grams of meat a day is completely covered needs for selenium, phosphorus, vitamins D, B6 and B12. Besides, halibut contains 6 more different vitamins, 7 minerals, and so a whole bunch of fatty acids. Judging by the number of usefulness, it should help even when applied to the skin.



For health, fish should be eaten at least once a week!

It was the characteristics of the meat that became the main weakness of the halibut. If the fish were unsuitable for commercial fishing, its number would not would have fallen to critical values a century and a half ago. Since then governments began to regulate the catch of halibut, and the crises of the last century allowed the species to partially restore the population. However, the number of fish still far from the values of the early 19th century.