Over half of our planet is covered by oceans more than a mile deep. A watery desert, much
of which is completely empty, yet it hosts the largest habitat anywhere in our world.
In this video we sink to the very bottom of the sea, to look at 10 of the most amazing
deep sea creatures on Earth.
10. Fangtooth It’s a small wonder this creature received
the name Fangtooth as it has the largest teeth of any fish in the world, relative to its
size. Found among the deep waters in many of the world’s oceans, this menacing looking
fish is actually very small, reaching a maximum size of around six inches. Their teeth are
so large that they have to have pockets in the roof of their mouths that extend into
either side of their brains, just so the teeth on their bottom jaws don’t impale them when
they bite. 9. Pompeii Worm
This creature made the list because of how resistant it is to heat. It somehow manages
to live in hot waters around hydrothermal vents in the Pacific Ocean, and can tolerate
temperatures up to 80 degrees centigrade – an achievement no other living creature on earth
can boast about. Just to put that into perspective, human skin begins to burn at 44 degrees centigrade
if left exposed for long enough. It’s said they can survive these extreme temperatures
because of the bacteria that reside on their bodies.
8. Viperfish A fearsome looking creature, the Viperfish
is one of the most ferocious predators of the deep. Their fangs are so large that they
don’t fit inside their mouths, so they curve around close to their eyes instead. It is
said that they use these sharp teeth to impale their victims by swimming at them at high
speeds. They have a long dorsal spine tipped with a photophore – a light emitting organ.
They use this light as a fishing lure to attract smaller fish. The prey will only see the glowing
ball, and will think they’re about to enjoy a nice juicy meal when in fact they’ll be
the ones being digested. 7. Dumbo Octopus
Named after their likeness to the Disney elephant character, the Dumbo octopus lives deep down
in the ocean, sometimes as far as 7,000 meters – the deepest of any known species of octopus.
While they’re not exactly top of the food chain, and they don’t look particularly
menacing, they do have one trick up their sleeves. Rather than tearing flesh from their
prey like most octopi, these guys can actually pounce on them and swallow them whole.
6. Vampire Squid A truly bizarre looking creature, the Vampire
Squid looks very much like something that would come out of a science fiction movie.
Contrary to popular misconception, they actually got their name because of their red eyes,
not because they feast on blood. They have large fins on their bodies that resemble ears,
which are used to propel themselves by literally flying through the water flapping their fins.
They have the largest eyes relative to their body size of any animal, in fact, even though
they can only grow to a length of about 6 inches, they have eyeballs about the same
size as those of a large dog.
5. Sixgill Shark Believe it or not, this shark got it’s name
from the fact that it has six gills – I know, very creative. They are one of the oldest
species that still live today, with some of the sixgill shark’s relatives dating back
over 200 million years. They’re one of the larger shark species, with some of them growing
to a length over 5 meters, with females being larger than their male counterparts. They’ve
been known to dive as deep as 2,000 meters but they typically live around depths of about
90 meters. 4. Giant Isopod
Otherwise known as giant marine woodlice, these nightmarish looking creatures can grow
up 80cm long and can weigh nearly 2 kilograms. They can live in depths ranging from around
200 metres to over 2,000 meters, where the pressures are incredibly high and temperatures
are very low at about 4 degrees Celsius. They are the vultures of the deep, they’ve been
known to scavenge on all sorts of dead meat from whales to fish to squid, and in some
cases can be predators of some slow moving prey like sea cucumbers or sponges.
3. Gulper Eel One of the most bizarre looking creatures
in the deep sea, Gulper Eels are most known for their enormous mouths which are considerably
larger than the rest of the Eel’s body. They can open their mouths wide enough to
swallow their victims whole, even ones larger than themselves. Once they’ve gulped their
targets, the helpless fish are deposited into a pouch-like lower jaw which is similar to
that of a pelican. In spite of this gigantic mouth, it’s believed that their diets consist
mostly of small crustaceans, most likely as a result of their tiny teeth.
2. Hairy Angler As if anglerfish in general didn’t already
look bizarre enough, prepare to meet the hairy anglerfish, the fish who has a bad hair day
every day. It’s body is completely engulfed in hairs that allow it to sense even the tiniest
of movements in the water. This combined with the movable lure on top of its head makes
it a truly formidable predator. Similarly to the gulper eel, they have very large mouths
allowing them to swallow prey whole as big, or even bigger than themselves, and they’re
also able to expand their stomachs to make room for their meals.
1. Blobfish Aside from having perhaps the best name of
any fish, the Blobfish looks like it simply shouldn’t exist – and yet here it is.
Blobfish live at depths between 600 and 1,200 meters where the pressure is several times
higher than at sea level. Because of this their flesh is primarily a gelatinous mass
which has a density lower than water, allowing them to float above the sea floor without
expending any energy at all. This low density flesh means if you take the blobfish out of
water it collapses into this miserable looking slimy mess, which in 2013 was voted the ugliest
animal in the world.