How do fish use camouflage?
Many fish use camouflage to blend into their surroundings. Camouflage has two purposes: it helps fish avoid being eaten and allows them to make sneak attacks on unsuspecting prey. The scorpion fish lives in coral reefs and looks like a rock. However, unlike a rock, it has an extremely large mouth for gulping down fish that swim right up to it. The trumpet fish, which is three feet long and only two inches wide, can turn from brown to yellow in just a second. So when a school of yellow fish appears, it simply turns yellow and hides among its next meal. Flounder hide from predators by taking on either a dark or light color, depending on what’s needed at the moment. Sea horses camouflage themselves with fins that look like the seaweed in which they live. Fish also use other tricks to obtain lunch or escape winding up as someone else’s lunch. The female angler fish “fishes” for its prey with what looks like a fishing rod and worm dangling in front of its head. When the prey gets close enou
