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11 intriguing transparent animals

By: Bryan Nelson on Jan. 24, 2011, 11 a.m.

Jellyfish swim in a tank at Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Photo: Terri Stewart/flickr

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Glass-like creatures

There are ghosts currently wandering the planet, but they aren't the undead apparitions of your imagination.

Transparent animals — creatures with transparent, glass-like skin — can be found lurking in abundance in ecosystems around the globe. These fascinating, verging-on-invisible organisms are the tangible ghosts of the real world.

Here's our list of 11 of the world's most intriguing transparent animals.

Jellyfish swim in a tank at Monterey Bay Aquarium.

They may be transparent, but there's still a green-ish meat to eat from these shrimp.

A glass frog seen from below

A glasswing butterfly on some green leaves

A barreleye fish swimming

A view of the underside of a female vitreledonella richardi captured at a 5,300 meter depth in 1918.

Crocodile icefish have transparent blood.

Tortoise shell beetle on a green leaf.

Salpidae chain in the oceans of Malta.

A transparent sea cucumber underwater.

This squid, about four-inches across, uses transparency to hide from potential predators.

Glass jellyfish are easier to spot against a black background.

Glass-like creatures

There are ghosts currently wandering the planet, but they aren't the undead apparitions of your imagination.

Transparent animals — creatures with transparent, glass-like skin — can be found lurking in abundance in ecosystems around the globe. These fascinating, verging-on-invisible organisms are the tangible ghosts of the real world.

Here's our list of 11 of the world's most intriguing transparent animals.