Deep Sea Creatures
By Spencer Morris
By Spencer Morris
At first, the ocean may seem like a lush, beautiful environment from lively coral reefs to amazing kelp forests. However, if you look just a little deeper, the ocean can also harbor some of the weirdest things on Earth. From leviathan-sized variants of normal marine species to cannibalistic ugly predators, dive into the deep end and learn about some of the weirdest creatures on earth.
Lophiiformes
If you've seen Finding Nemo, then you might recognize this first species. The anglerfish seems very simple as a concept, which is just to use the little light on their head to attract prey and eat them, but searching a little more, you'll find that there is a lot more to this bioluminescent beast then what meets the eye. The males are generally smaller than females. A male will attach to a female like a parasitic little bug until he is morphed with her. The woman is just fine, but the male loses many of his vital organs and only the small remnants of him that remain are left for the female to mate with.
Clione Limacina
Sea angels (also known as a clione) are graceful and iridescent species of sea slugs that reside in cold biomes from the surface to over 600 meters deep. They are tiny creatures, measuring only 1-2cm long, which is about as big as a single pea. To hunt prey, it extends its freaky tendrils and grabs its dinner into the gut.
Psychrolutes Marcidus
The blobfish is an omnivorous fish that measures around 1ft. Named as the ugliest animal in the world in 2013, its gooey and deformed appearance is one of the blobfish's defining characteristics. However, the blobfish only looks like this when pulled up to the surface. In the deep ocean, it looks like a regular fish.
What a sea angel looks like when alerted of prey.
A blobfish in natural conditions.
Stygiomedusa Gigantea
Little is known about the rare phantom jellyfish, as it has only been sighted underwater 27 times due to its midnight zone dwelling. This jellyfish is the largest invertebrate predator in the ecosystem, measuring over 10m in length. Its bulbous head is over 1m tall and long.
Macropinna Microstoma
The elusive barreleye is a very strange looking creature. At first glance, its eyes seem to be below the clear, blue part of its body. However, these deceiving patterns are merely pareidolia as the real aquamarine oculi lay right in the transparent dome of its head. It is believed the barreleye catches prey via silhouettes, so the two eyeballs always face upwards to allow light to enter the eyes, causing silhouettes to form.