15 Incredible Animals With More Than 2 Eyes

This post provides a list of 10 animals that have more than two eyes Including sea and marine animals. Most of us are familiar with the idea of creatures having two eyes, like humans, or maybe even four eyes if we think about certain types of glasses.

Also, some animals go above and beyond, having many eyes that offer them unique and extraordinary perspectives on their environment.

List Of Animals With More Than 2 Eyes

1. Bees
2. Chiton
3. Four-eyed fish
4. Iguana
5. Praying mantis
6. Scorpions
7. Spiders
8. Starfish
9. The horseshoe crab
10. Tuatara
11. Lamprey
12. Ogre-faced spider
13. Triops
14. Jumping spider
15. Opabinia

READ ALSO: Meet 10 Tireless Workers Of The Animal Kingdom

Let’s get started.

1. Bees

Bees are unique compared to insects like wasps in a few ways. They have special hair that looks like tiny branches or feathers, tiny combs on their front legs for keeping their antennas clean, and some subtle differences in the way their legs and back wings are shaped.

Female bees also have a split in the seventh plate on their back. What’s also interesting about bees is that they have a total of five eyes.

Along with two big ones on the sides of their head, they have three smaller ones on top. These smaller eyes can sense light, although they can’t make out shapes. This helps bees detect if a predator is coming from above.

2. Chiton

Chitons may seem simple, but they’ve got a cool shell. This shell has a special outer layer with about 1000 tiny eyes, each smaller than the dot at the end of this sentence.

However, these eyes are made of limestone, and they wear out as the chiton grows older. Chitons stay safe because they have a shell with eight plates.

These plates are covered in hundreds of little eyes called ocelli, and each of these eyes has layers like paint, a part for seeing things (retina), and a tiny lens.

3. Anableps anableps

The large four-eyes, or Anableps anableps, is a fish found in the waters of northern South America and Trinidad.

Despite its name, it only has two eyes, but they’re special. They appear as four because of a line in the middle of each eye, creating two parts, each with its pupil and vision.

This helps the fish when it swims near the water’s surface which allows it to see both inside and outside the water at the same time.

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4. Iguana

Green iguanas have an interesting feature: they have what’s almost like a third eye on the top of their heads. This isn’t a regular eye that helps them see like we do, but it’s rather special in its way.

It’s known as the pineal gland, or sometimes called the parietal eye. While it doesn’t see things the way their other eyes do, it has some parts similar to their regular eyes. This third eye helps them with some unique tasks that are different from what their other eyes do.

5. Praying mantis

Praying mantises have five eyes, and two of these eyes are large and easy to see, kind of like our eyes. These are great for spotting movement and seeing things in 3D.

However, they also have three smaller eyes right in the middle of their head. These little eyes are mainly for sensing light.

So, while the big ones help them keep an eye out for movement, the smaller ones help them understand the light around them.

6. Scorpions

Scorpions are unique with their long tail that has a stinger and a pair of pincers at the front of their body, like long arms called pedipalps.

And when it comes to eyes, they might have six to twelve of them. There’s a noticeable pair right in the middle of their front, and then they can have two to five smaller eyes on each side.

However, scorpions don’t see very well. Their eyesight isn’t all that great.

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7. Spiders

Spiders often have eight eyes (although some have six or even fewer), but their vision isn’t that fantastic like scorpions.

They don’t use their eyes much to find their way around or catch food. Instead, they rely on feeling things, sensing vibrations, and tasting their surroundings to get by.

But, there’s a special kind of spider, the jumping spider, which is like a little predator on the prowl, almost like a tiny lion chasing after its bug prey.

These spiders typically have eight eyes: two really big ones in the front which help them see things clearly and judge how far away stuff is, and some extra eyes on the sides to spot movement.

8. Starfish

Each eye of a starfish is found at the end of a little tube-like structure and is made up of about 150 to 200 tiny parts called ommatidia. And, each of these tiny parts has around 120 photoreceptors, which are like the eye’s tiny sensors.

However, the views from these five eyes overlap with each other, so a starfish can see everything around it at the same time. It’s like having five sets of eyes to keep a lookout on its surroundings.

9. The horseshoe crab

Horseshoe crabs have a total of 10 eyes. They have a pair of compound eyes at the front part of their body, called the prosoma, and other light-sensitive spots mostly along their tail.

By the way, it’s important not to pick up a horseshoe crab by its tail, as it can hurt the animal.

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10. Tuatara

Some reptiles, like the tuatara, have a third eye, but this isn’t common in many animals today. It’s something that was present in the past but got lost in animals like crocodiles, birds, and mammals.

We can still find tiny bits of this third eye in some of these creatures. This third eye gives us a peek into how animals used to see things a long time ago.

11. Lamprey

Lampreys have four eyes because they have two eye-like structures, one called the pineal and the other the parapineal. But in many animals, the pineal is the main eye in the middle of their head.

12. Ogre-faced Spider

The ogre-faced spider is a medium-sized spider, measuring about 10 to 17 millimeters in total body length. This creature is named after its two huge eyes that look right in front, the largest of its eight eyes.

13. Triops

The name of the Triops genus comes from the Greek word ‘ὤψ or ṓps,’ which means ‘eye,’ and it’s combined with the Latin word ‘tri-,’ meaning ‘three,’ because these creatures have three eyes.

READ ALSO: Do Spiders Drink Water?

14. Jumping Spider

Jumping Spiders usually have a lot of shiny, colorful scales or tiny hairs all over them. You can tell them apart by their big front eyes, they have eight eyes in total.

They also have special patterns on their eyes that make them stand out.

15. Opabinia

Opabinia was a soft-bodied critter, about 7 centimeters long. It had a body with flaps on the sides and a tail resembling a fan.

But the head has five eyes, a mouth under its head that pointed backward, and a claw-like tube that it likely used to move food toward its mouth.

Key Points:

1. Bees – 5 eyes (2 big and 3 smaller)
2. Chiton – Numerous tiny eyes
3. Anableps anableps (large four-eyes fish) – 2 eyes
4. Green Iguana – 3 eyes (including the third eye)
5. Praying Mantis – 5 eyes (2 large and 3 smaller)
6. Scorpions – 6 to 12 eyes
7. Spiders – Usually 8 eyes, with some having 6 or fewer
8. Starfish – 5 eyes
9. Horseshoe Crab – 10 eyes
10. Tuatara – 3 eyes (including the third eye)
11. Lamprey – 4 eyes (including the pineal and parapineal)
12. Ogre-faced Spider – 8 eyes
13. Triops – 3 eyes
14. Jumping Spider – 8 eyes
15. Opabinia – 5 eyes