Strange deep sea creatures

The world we live in is a mysterious place with an abundance of wonderful and weird things that can boggle our minds. Scientists have succeeded in exploring and exposing some of these mysteries to us but there is a lot more that is still untouched, especially in the unreachable realms of the galaxy and the deep dark depths of the mighty oceans. Today we like you to meet some strange creatures that dwell in the depths of the oceans that would certainly fascinate you. Some may call them weird while others may choose to see them as cute, especially the not so monstrous looking creatures.

The Blobfish

Vampire squid

Piglet squid

Blobfish

Coffin fish (above and below)

Coffin fish tadpole

Have you ever seen a fish looking sad? Maybe not. However, if you ever come across a species of fish named the blobfish (Psychrolutes marcidus) you are bound to think that it is the saddest looking fish in the sea. Perhaps, the fish looks very sad because it is under the threat of extinction.Surprisingly it is on the verge of being wiped out not because it is in great demand for any special feature or is of any significant use to anyone as such, but because it is being dragged up with tastier catches like lobster and crab. Blobfish are often mistakenly caught by fishermen trawling for lobsters, which also often live at great depths. A very large amount of the deep sea is under threat from bottom trawling, which is one of the most destructive forms of fishing.

The blobfish which can grow up to 12 inches in length is rarely seen by humans because it is a deep sea fish of the family Psychrolutidae.The bloated bottom dweller, lives at depths between 600-1,200 m (2,00-3,900 ft) where the pressure is several dozen times higher than at sea level, which would likely make gas bladders inefficient for maintaining buoyancy.

To remain buoyant, it evolved to have flesh slightly denser than water, allowing it to float about without the use of muscles.The flesh of the blobfish is primarily a gelatinous mass with a density slightly less than water; this allows the fish to float above the sea floor without expending energy on swimming. Its relative lack of muscle is not a disadvantage as it primarily swallows edible matter that floats in front of it. Blobfish eat invertebrates like crabs and sea pens. The blobfish which is most noticeable for having the saddest face in the ocean inhabits the deep waters off the coasts of mainland Australia and Tasmania, but is rarely seen by humans.

Piglet squid

This funny looking piglet squid (Helicocranchia pfefferi), is about the size of a small avocado and can be found most commonly in the deepwater (greater than 100 m or 320 ft) of virtually all oceans. Its habit of filling up with water and wild-looking 'tuft' of eight arms and two tentacles had prompted scientists to name it the piglet squid.Some consider this strange-looking creature cute. Do you think so?

Measuring just 3.9cm (10cm) in length the body is almost totally clear revealing a dark mass that is the internal organs and barely visible, feather-like gills. Pigment organs dot the surface of the skin.There are two small fins at the opposite end of the body from the head.

Very little known of its biology. It has been observed from submersibles in the head down, but no one is sure why. It is a sluggish swimmer with ammonium ions in its body fluid that help keep it bouyant.

A large light producing organ (photophore) is located beneath each of its large eyes.

Its tentacles and skin patterns have formed an adorable shape of a small smiling face with what looks like curly locks on his head. Because of its deep water habitat, little is known of its behaviour.

Vampire squid

It is not more than six inches in length but the vampire squid, known to scientists as Vampyroteuthis infernalis, looks like a creature from a science fiction movie.

With large fins at the top of its body that resemble ears, globular eyeballs about the size of those of a large dog which can appear red or blue in colour, depending on the light, and a body covered with light-producing organs called photophores which gives the squid the unique ability to "turn itself on or off" at will ,through a chemical process known as bioluminescence. It is no wonder that the squid is given the monstrous name - vampire.

It is an ancient species and is a phylogenic relict, meaning that is is the only surviving member of the order Vampyromorphida. It is a unique member of the cephalopod family in that it shares similarities with both squid and octopuses. In fact, it was originally and mistakenly identified as an octopus by researchers in 1903.

Would you beileve that the squid has the ability to completely become invisible in the dark waters where it lives when the photophores are off? The squid has incredible control over these light organs. It has the ability to modulate the size and intensity of the photophores to create complex patterns that can be used to disorient predators and attract prey.

The photophores are larger and more complex at the tips of the arms and the base of its two fins. Unlike most other squid, it does not have the ability to change its colour. This ability would be useless in the dark environments in which it lives. The squid's light show is probably its main form of defense, since it lacks the ink sack which is present in other squid species. It can, however, eject a thick cloud of glowing, bioluminescent mucus from the tips of its arms when threatened.

The fins are its primary means of propulsion and it literally flies through the water by flapping them. As with other squid, it can also use jet propulsion to move by expelling water through a specialised siphon jet located just under its mantle.

The vampire squid has a very gelatinous form, resembling a jellyfish more than the common squid. It can swim surprisingly fast for a gelatinous animal, reaching speeds of over two body lengths per second. Though it is relatively smal it has the largest eyes relative to its body size of any animal. The vampire squid's eight arms are connected with a webbing of skin, which makes it look more like an octopus than a squid. When threatened, the squid can draw its arms up over itself and form a defensive web that covers its body. Each of the eight arms is lined with a single row of suction cups and rows of soft, fleshy spines known as cirri. It is these spines, along with the cape-like webbing and red eyes that give the vampire squid its unusual name. Located inside the vampire squid's webbed arms can be found a pair of retractable sensory filamnets. These filaments are similar to the two long tentacles found on other squid species. Also located within the webbing are two powerful beak-like jaws. These jaws are as white as ivory and are strong enough to crush the shells of crustaceans. The squid's colour ranges from jet black to pale red.

Not much is known about the feeding habits of the vampire squid. Its diet is believed to consist of prawns, copepods, cnidarians, and other small invertebrates. The beaks of vampire squid have been found in the stomachs of seals, whales, and fishes, indicating that it is a favorite prey item for many deep-diving species. The squid has an extremely low metabolic rate, indicating that it can go for long periods of time without feeding. This is an important adaptation seen in many deep sea species since food can be hard to find at these extreme depths.

As with most deep water creatures, very little is known about the reproductive habits of the vampire squid. We do know that the eggs of the squid are small and opaque, reaching a size of about eight millimeters. They are thought to reproduce slowly by laying a relatively small number of eggs. The distribution of eggs has been found to be similar throughout the year, indicating that there may be no particular breeding season. Once the eggs hatch, the young hatchlings will drift with the water.

They resemble miniature versions of the adults except that they lack the webbing between the arms and their eyes are much smaller. As they develop, the young vampire squid undergo what has been described as a double metamorphosis. At early stages of development, the young squid have a single pair of fins located near the eyes. At a later stage, this pair of fins gradually disappears as a new pair develops. As the animal reaches maturity, these fins are resized and repositioned to maximize swimming efficiency.

Vampire squid are found throughout the deep oceans of the world in most tropical and temperate regions at depths of between 300 feet (about 90 meters) and 3,000 feet (over 900 metres). They live in the oxygen minimum layer of the ocean where virtually no light penetrates. They seem to prefer a temperature between 35 and 43 degrees Fahrenheit (between 2 and 6 degrees Celsius).

Fangtooth

From the depths of the ocean emerges another monster like crature which is also only six inches in in length like the blobfish. The fangtooth, also known as Anoplogaster cornuta, is a menacing looking creature with a short body and a large head. The fangtooth gets its name from the long, sharp, fang-like teeth that line its enormous, over-sized mouth. Its gruesome appearance has earned it the name, "ogrefish". The adults sport a body colour that ranges from dark brown to black but the juveniles look completely different;they are light gray in colour with long spines on their heads.

The fangtooth is an extreme deep-water species that lives at depths of about 16,000 feet. Do you know that the pressure at these depths is extremely intense and the water temperature is near freezing? Hardly anyfood is found at these depths so ,it is believed that the fangtooth will gobble up to just about anything it can find. Most of its meals probably fall from the upper depths of the ocean.

The fangtooth is found throughout the world in temperate and tropical ocean regions including the waters off the coast of Australia.

Coffin fish

The coffin fish (B.melanostomus) is a bottom-dwelling fish that can be found almost anywhere in the world. These curious looking fish walk along the bottom of the sea floor using their leg-like fins to crawl around. It has a flabby body and long tail that are both covered with small spines. It has a black mouth lining and an illicium (glossary) on the snout that can be lowered into a groove.

This species grows to at least 10cm in length. B.melanostomus has been trawled in the Central to Eastern Indian Ocean at depths ranging from 1320m to 1760m. The name melanostomus comes from the Greek melanos meaning black and stoma meaning mouth.

There are two genera in the family Chaunacidae; Bathychaunax and Chaunax. Bathychaunax differs from Chaunax by having a lower lateral line count, longer ilicium, a wider head, more widely spaced body spines and several skeletal characters.

Facts and pix: Internet