Introducing our favourite Weird and Whimsical animals at the Two Oceans Aquarium

Hagfish

Hagfish have no jaws, eyes, fins, or scales but have survived for 330 million years! Since they showed up on the fossil record, hagfish have barely changed from their primitive forms.

Hagfish play a vital role in recycling dead animals on the seabed. These scavenger-like fish have horny dental plates that tear into prey, while a fang above the plates holds the prey in place. Since they have no teeth, hagfish only feed on small live fish or rotting carcasses. When larger food sources are found, such as dead whales, hagfish have another strategy – they enter the corpse and eat the soft tissue from within.

There are approximately 76 species of hagfish, most occurring as bottom-dwellers in cold waters around the world. Despite their weird eating habits, hagfish play a vital role as ocean recyclers – come see them for yourself at the Two Oceans Aquarium.

Mudskipper

Half-fish or half-frog? Mudskippers are amphibious fish, meaning that they use specialised gill chambers to breathe in water and on land!

They can be found in mangrove forests and mudflats along the tropical coasts of the Indian and Pacific oceans – this humid habitat is perfect for them.

Thanks to their adaptations, mudskippers can remain out of water for several days. Once the tide has receded, the mudskippers spend this time quickly skipping over the mudflats in search of food, using their sturdy pectoral fins as legs. They can flip themselves forward with their tails, sometimes by as much as a metre!

The mudskippers at the Two Oceans Aquarium can be found in their unique ecosystem in the Penguin Exhibit ­– be sure to check them out.

Tube anemone

With cylindrical bodies and long, delicate tentacles, tube anemones look almost like a Dr Seuss creation!

The worm-like bodies of the anemones are enclosed in long mucous tubes that are buried in the sand – these tubes can stretch up to a metre long!

Tube anemones are also clever carnivores that use the venomous barbs in their tentacles to catch prey. The tentacles sense movement and fire on contact, injecting poison into their prey. Tube anemones also have a cool adaption for avoiding predation: When they feel threatened or disturbed, they rapidly withdraw into their tubes as a form of protection!

Paper fish

Paperfish are named for the way that they move with the currents, much like a piece of paper drifting with the wind.

With dorsal fins acting as a sail, you can’t blame them for drifting with the movement of the water! Paperfish have flattened bodies and tiny heads, making them streamlined and able to move quite swiftly.

Paperfish colours range from yellow and tan to red, brown, and black. They are difficult to spot as they camouflage easily into the surrounding coral reef. Their excellent camouflage makes them adept ambush predators, too – they feed on small fish and crustaceans, such as shrimps or crabs.