Strange Animals of the Ocean
Pink Sea-Through Fantasia
• The pink see-through
fantasia is a sea
cucumber, found about
a mile and a half deep
in the Celebes Sea in
the western Pacific
(east of Borneo).
The Squidworm
• Found in the Celebes
Sea, this worm is, well
... this worm seems
confused. Scientists call
it a squidworm. (No,
not Squidward.)
Sea Angel
• We wouldn't be surprised to
find that sea angels are in the
same family as, say, the
mythological Sirens. They're
called angels, but are actually
a predatory sea snail. This
particular
specimen, Platybrachium
antarcticum, "flies through the
deep Antarctic waters hunting
the shelled pteropods
(another type of snail) on
which it feeds," according to
the Marine Census of Life.
Marrus Orthocanna
• Like a multi-stage rocket, this
bizarre microscopic
creature, Marrus orthocanna is
made up of multiple repeated
units, including tentacles and
multiple stomachs. Never heard
of a physonect siphonophore?
That's what this is. It's something
like a jellyfish, and is more closely
related to the Portugese man
o'war. One interesting thing
about it: Like ants, a colony made
up of many individuals has
attributes resembling a single
organism.
Flamingo Tongue Snail
• With a name like Flamingo
tongue snail, and the
flamboyant coloration to
match, you might think that
this Cyphoma gibbosum has a
shell worthy of collecting. Not
so. All its color comes from the
soft parts of its body, which
envelope its shell unless it's
threatened. This specimen was
photographed feeding on soft
corrals near Grand Cayman in
the British West Indies.
Vampire Squid
Leafy Seadragon
• Found along the
southwestern coast of
Australia, the leafy
seadragon, Phycodurus
eques, uses its fins not
only to propel it through
the water, but as
camouflage to resemble a
piece of drifting seaweed
Kiwa, God of Shellfish, Crab
• This furry-clawed crab
appeared so unusual when
scientists discovered it 5,000feet deep on a hydrothermal
vent south of Easter Island
that they designated it not
only a new genus, Kiwa, but a
new family, Kiwidae – both
named for the mythological
Polynesian goddess of
shellfish. It's likely blind and
may use bacteria in its furry
claws to de-toxify its food.
Terrible Claw Lobster
• Only four other
individuals, in two
species, had been found
previously, both in
Australia. The specimen
was collected during
the Aurora mission in
2007
The Dumbo Octopus
• This Grimpoteuthis octo
pus found over the MidAtlantic Ridge, is
affectionately called
Dumbo because of the
way it flaps its ear-like
fins to swim.
Viperfish
•
The Viperfish (Mesopelagic - found at
80-1600 meters - about a mile down)
is one of the most wicked looking sea
monsters. Some of them are black as
night all over with light organs (called
photophores) in strategic places on
their bodies, including one on a long
dorsal fin that serves as a lure for the
fish it preys upon. Some viperfish
(and many other deep ocean fish
species) don't have any pigment
(color) at all - they're transparent.
They also have enlarged eyes,
presumably for gathering as much
light as possible where there is little
or no light at all. The light organs of
this sea animal create lights by using
a chemical process called
bioluminescence.
Dragonfish
Coelacanth
Angler
•
the angler uses this organ like a lure
to attract its prey. It will flash its light
on and off while waving it back and
forth like a fishing pole. When the
prey fish gets close enough, the
angler snaps it up with its powerful
jaws. A strange fact about the deep
sea angler is the fact that the male is
smaller and different in appearance
from the female, which is pictures
above. The male of the species is
about the size of a finger and has
small hook teeth, which it uses to
attach itself to the female. Once
attached, its blood vessels join with
that of the female and it will spend
the rest of its life joined to her like a
parasite, getting all of its
nourishment from her body.
Gulper Eel
Giant Isopod
• Giant isopods are
known to reach a size of
over 16 inches in length
Long-nosed Chimaera
• Biologists have gone to
great lengths to describe
the long-nosed chimaera,
Harriotta raleighana, whose
kind can reach five feet in
length. In South Africa, it is
known as the "ghost shark,"
though it is only distantly
related to sharks. A touch of
the venomous spine on the
first dorsal fin can kill a
person, though such a fate
is unlikely given the 8,000foot depths at which this
creature lives.
Colossal Squid
Ocean Sunfish
Oarfish
Megamouth Shark
Fangtooths, also known as ogrefishes
Sea Robbins
Handfish
Goblin Shark
HatchetFish
Piglet Squid
• This cute little guy
swims upside-down,
making its tentacles
appear to be growing
out its head, and
making its head look
like a chubby, limbless
body.
Barreleye Fish
• You know how most fish
can’t move their eyes
very far? The Barreleye
Fish can move it’s eyes
around inside its head
in any direction it
wants. Since the fish’s
head is transparent, it
can look straight
through it’s own head.
The Psychedelic Frogfish
BLOBFISH!