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![Dragonfish]()
Imagine living in the sea where it's permanently dark and cold, and food is hard to find. For many animals at depth it may be weeks to months between meals. And when they do find something to eat, they have to hang on to it. That's why so many deep-sea fishes have lots of big teeth. This dragonfish even has teeth on its tongue! They'd be terrifying animals -- if they were bigger than a banana.![Brittle_Stars]()
These nocturnal echinoderms are called sponge brittle stars -- Ophiothrix suensonii. They are very common in the Caribbean. They are so named because they are found exclusively either inside or outside of living sponges.![Leptocheliidae]()
Male Leptocheliidae are characterized by chelipeds, legs that in some cases significantly exceeding the body length. While normally held folded, they are extended fully forward during swimming. The extremely slender legs found in this group are unlikely to be capable of any feeding or locomotory function, however.![Sea_Cucumber]()
Elpidia belyaevi, a new species of sea cucumber from the Arctic deep sea.![Brittle_Star]()
Asteronyx loveni: a brittle star often associated with sea pens. Found off Sanriku in Japan, at a depth of 1,265 meters below the sea.![Deep_Sea_Jellyfish]()
This deep-sea jellyfish has a unique method of self defense: When attacked by a predator, it uses bioluminescence to "scream" for help. This amazing light show is known as a burglar alarm display.![Zombie_Worm]()
This worm (Osedax roseus, or the zombie worm) inhabits whale bones and devours them as energy sources. A large root in the bone hosts the creatures; oddly enough, all Osedax males are dwarfs and live on the trunks of females.![Paper Bubble]()
The Hydatinidae gen. sp. (red-lined paper bubble) was discovered off cape Nomamisaki, Kagoshima, Japan. This new species of gastropod was discovered from a sperm whale carcass in the deep sea. Its tiny eyes are protected by shields, like eyelids.![A_Solitary_Hydroid]()
Branchiocerianthus imperator, a solitary hydroid. Found in Sagami Bay, Japan, at a depth of 670 meters.![Deep-Water Octopus]()
A deep-water octopus, Benthoctopus sp., found a staggering 2,700 meters deep in Alaminos Canyon in the Gulf of Mexico.![Creature, Featured]()
A Phronima sedentaria, found in a salp -- a tubelike creature -- in the Northern Gulf of Mexico.![Venus_Flytrap]()
Venus fly-trap, or Actinoscyphia sp., found at site GC852, 1,500 meters deep beneath the seas of the Gulf of Mexico.![Spider_Conch]()
Lambis chiragra, or the Spider conch.![Deep-Sea Anglerfish]()
Prehistoric six-gilled sharks, giant oilfish, swarms of crustaceans and unidentified fish have been caught on camera nearly a mile beneath the ocean at Osprey Reef, off the coast of Australia. This deep-sea anglerfish was captured at a depth of over 1,000 meters. Read more![Deep-Sea Red Jellyfish]()
This deep-sea red jellyfish Atolla has been identified by scientists from the Queensland Brain Institute using high-tech cameras at the Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea, some 350kms north-east of Cairns off Australia.![Amphipod_Crustacean]()
This scary looking creature is a deep-sea amphipod crustacean, which lives in a dark world where the pressure is 140 times greater than on land.![Deep-Sea Jellyfish]()
This Peraphilla deep-sea jellyfish is well adapted to its dark environment.![Baby Octopus?]()
Most cephalopods (like octopus and squid) go through a paralarval stage that can look very different from the adult, although both share arms with suckers and large eyes for visual hunting. Paralarvae are generally semi-transparent, but have some photophores that allow them to change appearance very rapidly.![Young_Hermit_Crab]()
The soft curled tail of this decapod larva indicates it is turning into a young hermit crab. Already almost half a centimeter, it does not have much time left in this unprotected form. As soon as this larva settles, it will be in need of a snail shell to protect its unarmored rear section.![Angler_Fish]()
The larvae of many deep-sea fish are virtually unknown. This rare find of an angler fish larva caused great joy when it was discovered mixed in with a zooplankton sample.![Smiling_Tube_Anemone]()
An earlier stage of the larval tube anemone, this specimen looks as if it has a smiling face inside. The common types of sea anemones spend little, if any, time in the plankton, as compared to tube anemones, which spend much longer and appear to feed while there.![Larval_Spider_Crab]()
The larval spider crab uses the numerous spines on its body to deter predators, but more importantly to increase its drag in the water to keep it from sinking, much like a parachute does. Like other larval phases, it is important both as a dispersal phase, and to take advantage of the abundant food in the plankton. This fellow is several millimeters in size.!['Girdle-Wearing' Burrowers]()
Scientists last year described this new species of burrower, Culexiregiloricus trichiscalida, found 2.6 miles down in the Atlantic's Guinea Basin south of Cote d'Ivoire, Africa. Loriciferans, affectionately dubbed "girdle wearers" due to hind shells resembling a corset, are among the smallest known multi-cellular marine animals. This is a juvenile specimen with a body about 1/100th of an inch – roughly the width of three human hairs.![Medusae_larvae]()
This larval tube-anemone has already begun fishing for food with the tentacles it will use as an adult. The dark stomach suggests it is already a successful hunter even as it is about a centimeter in size.![Zoea__a_Young_Crab]()
The zoea is the first larval stage of a crab, often with prominent spines to make it less attractive prey to larval fish.![Deep Sea 'Dumbo']()
From pole to pole, surface to frigid depths, researchers have discovered thousands of new ocean creatures in a decade-long effort now nearing completion, called the Census of Marine Life. And there may still be several times more strange creatures to be found. Grimpoteuthis looks like a primitive "dumbo" fish; the creature moves by flapping its ear-like fins. Researchers with the project have found about 5,600 new species on top of the 230,000 known. They hope to add several thousand more by October 2010, when the census will be done![Yeti_Crab]()
This new species of crab was discovered off the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge in the South Pacific Ocean. It was named Kiwa hirsuta kiwa, after the goddess of shellfish in Polynesian mythology, but has become known as the yeti crab because of its hairy appearance.![File_Clam]()
Samples for DNA barcoding were taken from this file clam, Lima sp., during an expedition on Ningaloo Island, Australia.![Fan_Worms]()
Sabellids, or fan worms, are feathery creatures that build tubes out of parchment, sand, and bits of shell.![Epimera, a New Crustacean]()
A new species of Epimera, a 25-mm long amphipod crustacean, was found near Elephant Island, Antarctic Peninsula.![Colonial_Salp_Jellyfish]()
This colonial salp jellyfish was captured in a midwater column off Lizard Island.![Antarctic_Sea_Urchin]()
![White Topped Coral Crab]()
This coral crab was found and collected in a dead coral head off Heron Island.![Deep Sea Cucumber]()
At 2,750 meters deep in the Northern Gulf of Mexico, scientists found this odd, transparent sea cucumber, Enypiastes. The creature creeps forward on its many tentacles at about 2 centimeters per minute while sweeping detritus-rich sediment into its mouth.![Deep Sea Neocyema]()
Ranging from 2,000 to 2,500 meters deep, this bizarre, elongated orange animal is identified as a Neocyema. Scientists say it is only the fifth specimen of the fish ever caught, and has never before been seen on the mid-Atlantic Ridge.![Deep Sea 'Dumbo']()
Isn't it cute? Grimpoteuthis looks like a primitive "dumbo" fish; the creature moves by flapping its ear-like fins.![Deep Sea Rat-Tail]()
At 1,700 to 4,300 meters lives Coryphaenoides brevibarbis, called the rat-tail. The fish lives on crustaceans it catches just above the sea floor. Tiny bones in its ear, known as otoliths, have growth bands countable like tree rings.![Deep Sea Copepod]()
It may look like an ancient gold treasure, but it's really a magnified crustacean. This tiny copepod was collected from the depths of the Atlantic ocean this year.![Blind Lobster]()
A blind lobster with bizarre "chelipeds" belongs to the very rare genus Thaumastochelopsis, previously known only from four specimens of two species in Australia. This one was collected by the Census in 2007.![Marine Spider]()
An Antarctic male pycnogonic bearing its eggs. The creature is a marine relative of spiders, and was found in the Larsen A area of the Antarctic Peninsula in 2007.![Crassota]()
A colorful crassota jellyfish.![Giant Bacteria]()
Giant baceteria found in sea-floor sediment off central Chile.![Ghost Shrimp]()
The Census of Marine Life found this new species of ghost shrimp in mud volcanoes in the Gulf of Cadiz in the Northeast Atlantic. The thalassindean crustacean was collected at a depth of 1,324 meters.![Polychaetes]()
An assortment of the ocean's oddest: polychaetes.![Cliona Limacina]()
The Cliona limacina, a shell-less snail, lives in the shallow waters beneath the Arctic ice.![Jeweled Anemone Crab]()
The striped eye stalks of the jeweled anemone crab seem to stare back.![The Black Swallower]()
Chiasmodon niger, a deep sea fish sometimes called "the black swallower," can devour fish larger than itself.![Antarctic Sea Anemone]()
In 2007, the Census of Marine Life recorded the first observation of the recently discovered Antarctic sea anemone Stephanthus antarcticus.![Roundnose Grenadier]()
The funny looking roundnose grenadier.![Nudibranch]()
A nudibranch photographed on a coral head off Heron Island, near Australia's Great Barrier Reef.![Jellyfish]()
Like an underwater spaceship, Aequorea macrodactyla travels through the warm clear waters of the Celebes Sea in the western Pacific Ocean.![Comb Jellyfish]()
A ctenophore or comb jellyfish, collected off Wassteri Reef, Heron Island, near the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.![Antarctic Ice Fish]()
As an adaptation to low temperatures, the Antarctic ice fish has no red blood pigments and no red blood cells. Thus the fish's blood is more fluid and the animal saves energy.![Cuttlefish]()
A cuttlefish, spotted at Lizard Island, near Australia's Great Barrier Reef.Deep-Sea Oddities From the Census of Marine Life
From the dragon fish (which has teeth on its tongue) to a glowing jellyfish to a worm that lives in and devours whale bones, the Census of Marine Life has turned up some bizarre creatures.
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- Deep-Sea Oddities From the Census of Marine Life
