Animals That Camouflage Themselves Underwater

Animals that camouflage themselves underwater often do so to prevent being seen by lurking predators that are looking for a meal. However, this is not the only reason that animals camouflage themselves. Underwater predators may also camouflage themselves so that their prey will not detect their presence. Underwater animals camouflage themselves in a variety of ways, such as changing colors to match their surroundings. Some animals can even change their form so that they appear to be a totally different creature altogether.

  1. Mimic Octopus

    • Some types of octopus have the ability to camouflage themselves underwater, such as the Mimic octopus of Indonesia. The Mimic octopus can change its hue to just about any color. Before it camouflages itself, a Mimic octopus is brown in color and has spots on it. After transformation, they have been seen in colors ranging from all white to bright red. A Mimic octopus can also camouflage itself to match the features and forms of other creatures.

    Scorpionfish

    • Scorpionfish are underwater animals that camouflage themselves to catch prey. They can live in many different types of underwater environments and camouflage themselves to match the environment they're currently in. For example, if a Scorpionfish has sandy surroundings, it will camouflage itself so that it appears sandy and gritty. Scorpionfish can also match other surroundings such as ones with coral reefs. Scorpionfish camouflage themselves and wait patiently for prey to swim by.

    Flounders

    • Flounders are fish that have the ability to camouflage themselves underwater. Flounders have a flattened body and spend most of their time on the ocean floor. Flounders camouflage themselves to match their surroundings which is often the sand at the ocean's bottom. Camouflage allows flounders to ambush their prey, often small sea creatures such as shrimp. Camouflage also allows flounders to avoid being seen and eaten by larger sea creatures such as sharks and eels.

    Stingrays

    • Like flounders, stingrays also have a flattened body that allows them to camouflage themselves underwater. They spend their life on the ocean floor searching for food and laying eggs. Stingrays have bodies that closely match their surroundings. Their skin color allows them to blend in with the sand at the bottom of the ocean. They can also take it one step farther and burrow beneath the sand. This, along with their camouflage, makes it difficult for passing predators to spot them.