You never imagined that an animal could have evolved to have a body that is either partially or fully transparent. But Mother Nature is a crafty chick who has given these creatures the ability to use their transparency to stay safe from predators. And never has see-through looked so darn awesome!
The Sea Gooseberry
This incredible little creature doesn’t even look a sea creature, but rather a tiny marble, right? It’s commonly known as “The Sea Gooseberry” but it’s actually called Pleurobrachia pileus. It grows up to 2.5 cm, and they live in open waters.
Glass Frog
You’ll find this species in South America and in Mexico. And you don’t need x-ray vision to look into a glass frog’s internal organs. You simply need to look at their stomach, which is highly translucent.
Glass Squid
There are 60 different species of the Glass Squid, scientifically known as Cranchiid. Their skin is semi-transparent which helps them catch prey and curl inside themselves to hide from predators.
Transparent Juvenile Surgeonfish
This glassy-looking fish is part of the Acanthurid species, which comes from the same family as the fish that inspired Dory from “Finding Nemo.” They’re typically found in the waters of New Zealand.
A Bunch of Salpa Maxima Creatures Stuck Together
This sea creature is seriously out-of-this-world beautiful. Go ahead, you can do a double-take! But what you’re actually looking at are several Salpa Maxima stuck together. The salpa is a planktonic tunicate that lives in cold waters. They move around by bonding together and creating long eye-catching chains.
Sea Angels
These extremely small mollusks live in the Arctic Ocean and are known as Gymnosomata or sea butterflyfish. Their bodies are transparent and look like angels as they flutter their translucent wings.
Portuguese Man o’ War
The Physalia physalis has similar properties to a jellyfish, like poisonous tentacles that can paralyze or worse, but it’s not a jellyfish. It got its name because it’s found on the surface of the Portuguese ocean.
Glasswing Butterfly
The extraordinarily fascinating Greta Oto is a member of the Danainae, tribe Ithomiini, and subtribe Godyridina subfamily. It uses its transparent fairy-like wings to camouflage itself from a threat and it looks oh so stunning.
Ice Fish
The Ice Fish are found in the Southern Ocean where the temperature drops to -2 °C (28.4 F). Their bodies look like ice. They even have antifreeze glycoprotein to prevent the formation of ice crystals.
The Amphipod Cystisoma Neptuni
Isn’t this amphipod creature from the deep ocean just seriously hypnotizing? But there are other creatures just as mesmerizing, (and transparent) as this one.
Like The Pelagic Nudibranch
The Pelagic Nudibranch is a gastropod that somewhat resembles a fish. They use their mortal horn-like rhinophores to hunt jellies, and they can grow up to just 5.5 cm.
The Ghost Shrimp
There’s nothing supernatural about these Ghost Shrimps. Their bodies are transparent to make it easier to camouflage in freshwater. They’re found in the southeastern United States and consume plankton.
