新西蘭漁民捕到"透明蝦" 晶瑩剔透如果凍
A fisherman from New Zealand was left baffled when he caught this see-through shrimp-like creature swimming near the surface of the ocean.
新西蘭一位漁民捕捉到這隻遊動在海面像蝦一樣的透明生物時，簡直是愣住了。Stewart Fraser was fishing with two sons 43 miles north off the North Island's Karikari Peninsula when he spotted the translucent 'shrimp' floating near the top of the water.
斯圖亞特·弗雷澤帶着兩個兒子在北島北部凱卡利卡利半島附近捕魚時，發現水面上漂着一隻“透明蝦”。Mr Fraser said: 'I was in two minds whether to haul it in, but curiosity got the better of me and I decided to take a closer look.
弗雷澤說：“我當時猶豫要不要把它撈上來，但好奇心讓我決定近距離觀察一下。”
'It felt scaly and was quite firm, almost jelly like, and you couldn't see anything inside aside from this orange little blob inside it.
“它摸起來好像有鱗並且相當堅韌，除了體內有一顆橘色小圓球以外，看起來完全透明。”The photo baffled Mr Fraser and all of his fisherman friends, who are still none more the wise as to what the creature could have been.
這張照片讓弗雷澤和其他漁民朋友們都很疑惑，因爲誰也不知道它到底是什麼。Mr Fraser said: 'We have no idea what it could have been but it was quite something and I'd never seen anything like it before.'
弗雷澤說：“我們不知道它是什麼東西，但這貨相當奇特，以前從未看到過。”However, Deborah Cracknell, research lead from the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth, told MailOnline she believes the creature is a Salpa maggiore (Salpa maxima).
然而，普利茅斯國家海洋水族館的首席研究員黛博拉·克拉克內爾在接受《每日電訊報》採訪時說，她認爲這是一種名叫樽海鞘的生物。Paul Cox, director of conservation and communication at the National Marine Aquarium, said: 'Little is known about these salps, however, they are often found in colder seas, with the most abundant concentration found in the Southern Ocean.
國家海洋水族館的動物保護及信息部主管保羅·考可斯說：“有關樽海鞘的信息很少，然而它們經常出沒在溫度較低的海洋裏，其中以南大洋中的數量最多。”'The salp is barrel-shaped and moves by contracting, pumping water through its gelatinous body.
“樽海鞘這種生物呈筒狀，通過全身收縮、排出海水來推動自己凝膠狀的身體移動。”'It strains the water through its internal feeding filters, feeding on phytoplankton from the upper sunlit layer of the ocean.
“它通過體內濾器吸收水分，以進食日光照射的海洋表面的浮游生物爲生。”'They have an interesting life-cycle with alternate generations existing as solitary individuals or groups forming long chains.
“它們的生命週期非常有趣，或獨自活動、或形成長長的羣居鏈，代代繁衍。”'In common with other defenceless animals that occupy open water - jellies and hydroids for example - the translucence presumably provides some protection from predation. Being see-through is a pretty good camouflage in water.'
“對於其他類似的無防禦能力的海洋生物來說，生存之道就是佔據開闊水面。這一現象很常見，比如水母和水螅蟲。通體透明可以保護它們免受捕食者的侵襲。在水中，透明的身體是一種很好的僞裝。”
