THE PANCAKE FISH By Professor Cookie

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE PANCAKE FISH The pancake Fish has some special abilities to help it survive and attract mates. These are called behavioural adaptations and the pancake fish uses them to survive and have babies. These behaviours are-  It can wriggle around and fold over with its flexible skin!  It can camouflage into its surroundings!  It can puff up into a ball to scare away predators and attract mates! The Pancake Fish does all these things for one reason, TO SURVIVE! All animals have to survive in order to reproduce and have babies to keep their species alive.

STRUCTURAL, BEHAVIOURAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL ADAPTATIONS! All animals have structural and Behavioural adaptations and only some have physiological adaptations to help them survive. The Pancake Fish has some special ones. Here are some of them- Structural Adaptations The Structural adaptations are the body parts that help the animal survive or itself the animal defend itself. Here are some-sharp spikes that activate when threatened, large eyes that pop out to scare predators away, curly tongue to help the animal make special sounds and slippery skin to slip into cracks in the coral. Behavioural Adaptations The behavioural adaptations of an animal is how the animal behaves to survive or give birth. Here are some-hibernation- falls in to a deep sleep for 3 months, mimicry- looks exactly like the sea bed or sea sponge and migration- traveling deeper into the reef to have babies. Physiological adaptations These adaptations are to do with inside the body and they help them survive and have a special treat! Here they are- special coating- to eat the blue ringed octopus without dying, Camouflage- use a chemical reaction to blend into surroundings quickly and slow down its heart and breathing when in hibernation.

GREAT BARRIER REEF This is my home. I live here from birth to death. There is a variety of colours for me to choose from to blend into. But I will maybe become extinct if the coral keeps bleaching because when the coral dies and shrivels up, I will have no cracks in the coral to hide in and then my predators will find me. I LOVE my home and I need you to help me with saving the coral.

HOW LONG DO I LIVE? HOW DO I GIVE BIRTH? The Pancake fish lives for about years and when they are first born, they are the size of a golf ball but when in am fully grown, they are about the size of a window! They give babies by traveling somewhere so the sharks won’t get me and that somewhere is deeper into the reef! They don’t get scratched because They have a special coating that doesn’t let them get scratched! In the about the 5 th year of their life, The males try to attract the female and then they travel together deeper in to the reef to have babies. The first time they have babies they have babies and the second time they have babies they have about 5-7 babies. In their life, he female pancake fish have 2 husbands. WOW!

WHO EATS ME? WHAT DO I EAT? Who Eats Me? There are three main animals that eat me. The sea lions, the sharks and the killer whales. I am yummy to eat because I taste like jelly! Well, not jelly to you, but jelly to my predators! To you, I’d taste like mouldy cheese and carrot! BLURGH! Disgusting! What do I eat? I eat the algy off coral and occasionally eat the tentacles of a blue ringed octopus with my special ‘powers’. These things are yummy because I have no teeth so I can only suck thing up!

CHOOSE YOUR LOOK! Blown Up The Pancake fish blows up when it either wants to scare predators away or to attract mates to have babies. Normal state This is what the pancake fish usually looks like when it just casually swimming by. Folded over Sometimes, the coral is to small to properly fit into so the pancake fish has to fold over to fit in.

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO ME! (I am so amazing to listen to aren’t I!)