(#1) The Pacific Viperfish Has Teeth So Big That It Can't Close Its Mouth
The sinister-looking Pacific viperfish has teeth so large that it can't close its mouth. These eight-inch hunters troll depths of up to 13,000 feet and lure prey to them with their bioluminescent bellies.
(#2) The Sarcastic Fringehead Looks Like the Predator Movie
Do you remember the scary jaws of the Predator in the Predator movies? The sarcastic fringehead could very well be the inspiration. These big mouths hide on the ocean floor and engage in "mouth wrestling" when fighting each other for territory.
(#3) The Fangtooth Fish Has the Largest Teeth Proportionate to Body Size
The fearsome fangtooth fish has the largest teeth, proportionate to body size, of any fish. This deep-sea fish swims at crushing depths of up to 16,500 feet in icy cold water. They are only six inches long, but a lot of that is teeth.
(#4) The Goblin Shark Can Protrude Its Nail-like Teeth Forward
The aptly named goblin shark lives at great depth and rarely comes into contact with humans, so you can relax. Its nail-like teeth are encased in a jaw that can protrude forward, sort of like a xenomorph from the Alien movies.
(#5) The Frilled Shark Is Built Like an Eel, the Better to Strike Its Prey
The frilled shark is called a "living fossil" for reasons that are apparent if you have two working eyes. It's often mistaken for an eel, but it's built that way so it can strike at prey like a snake.
(#6) The Freaky Barreleye Has a Transparent Head
There are a lot of strange-looking creatures in the ocean, but the barreleye has to be one of the freakiest. It has a transparent head, with large eyes inside that look upward. For looking down, the barreleye also has a small set of eyes on the bottom of its body,
(#7) The Vampire Squid Can Turn Itself Inside Out
Squid are already alien-like creatures with their tentacles, huge eyes, and ability to flash colors. The vampire squid takes things one step further: it can turn itself inside out to use its cape webbing as a shield.
(#8) The Atolla Jellyfish Might As Well Be an Alien
If it looks like an alien and acts like an alien, is it an alien? The UFO-looking atolla jellyfish, like most jellyfish, has no digestive, respiratory, circulatory, or central nervous system. It also has a biological protective “burglar alarm” display visible from 300 feet away.
(#9) Anglerfish Have a Built-in Lure on Their Heads
The deep-sea angler fish has a fleshy growth protruding from its head that lures unsuspecting creatures to its big mouth. The creatures at the bottom of the oceans are pretty much the stuff of nightmares.
(#10) The Mola Mola Is the Biggest Bony Fish on Earth
Holy mola mola... that's a big fish. The mola mola is the largest bony fish on Earth and can weigh up to 5,000 pounds. The tail-less fish is one of the largest jellyfish eaters in the world.
(#11) Octopuses Can See with Their Skin
An octopus can change its coloring to match its surroundings. Although its big eyes help, recent research suggests that there is a protein in the octopus's skin that is light sensitive, suggesting these cephalopods can see without using their peepers.
(#12) The Wolffish Needs an Orthodontist
The jacked-up teeth of the wolffish help it crush mollusks, shellfish, and sea urchins. These adorable predators swim at depths of up to 2,000 feet and are "renowned among fishermen for their ferocious appearance, temperament, and biting ability.”
(#13) The Terrible Claw Lobster Has A Claw That's Almost As Long As Its Body
Once you look at the terrible claw lobster, you'll have no trouble figuring out how exactly it got its nickname. Technically called the Dinochelus ausubeli this strange ocean creature was discovered in 2010 near the Philippines. Only one of its claws is crazy looking - equipped with saw-like "teeth" that scientists aren't entirely sure what its used for. What they do know is this unique looking lobster is extremely rare.
(#14) A Live Giant Squid Was Finally Filmed in 2013
Giant squids are the stuff of legend. They can attain a length of 60 feet and are the largest mollusks on Earth, but until 2013 no one had ever filmed one alive. Now we can watch one feeding instead of just examining carcasses that wash up on shore or are caught in fishing nets.
(#15) The Sea Angel Is a Li'l Devil
It might have a heavenly name and an angelic appearance, but the sea angel is anything but. It's actually a type of sea snail and an accomplished predator, snacking relentlessly on other sea snails.
(#16) The Giant Spider Crab Is the Biggest Arthropod on Earth
If you're into crab legs, check out this guy. The giant spider crab is thought to be the largest arthropod on Earth and can measure up to 12 feet from claw tip to claw tip. They live in the deep waters off the coast of Japan.
(#17) The Water Bear Can Survive in Outer Space
It might only be one millimeter long, but the water bear is the toughest creature on Earth and don't let anyone tell you different. It can survive in temperatures from absolute zero (-457 degrees Fahrenheit) to up to 357 degrees, withstand radiation up to 1,000 times more than most animals, come back to life after being dried out for 10 years and - get this - are the first animals we know of that can survive the vacuum of space.
(#18) The Coelacanth Came Back from the Dead
Until one was caught alive off the coast of South Africa in 1938, the coelacanth was thought to have gone extinct in the Cretaceous period. These rare fish are among the most endangered in the world.
(#19) The Pink See-Through Fantasia Has Real Guts
There are a bunch of nearly transparent ocean animals, but the pink see-through fantasia, which is actually a sea cucumber, looks otherworldly with its guts exposed for all to see.
(#20) The Yeti Crab Is the Hairy Hipster of Crustaceans
Unlike its smooth-shelled cousins, the yeti crab was discovered off Easter Island and has hairy claws. It's likely blind and might use bacteria in its furry claws to detoxify its food.
(#21) Sea Cucumbers Have an Unbelievable Defense Mechanism
Sea cucumbers are fairly simple animals that can grow up to six-and-a-half feet. They do have one amazing defense mechanism, however. When threatened, a sea cucumber can eject internal organs out of its anus and regenerate them later - a handy, if somewhat revolting, trick to confuse a pursuing predator.
(#22) The Giant Hatchetfish Won't Be Caught Off Guard from Below
The giant hatchetfish, which is only five inches long, doesn't really live up to its name. However, it does have a unique defense mechanism. It has a row of light-producing organs along its belly that mimic daylight streaming down from above. This confuses predators trying to ambush it from the depths below.
(#23) Transparent Salps Remove Carbon from the Ocean Surface
Being as transparent as a Ziploc bag, the jellyfish-like salps may not be much to look at, but they do provide an essential function. They condense their waste into carbon pellets that sink to the ocean floor, which effectively removes carbon from the ocean surface.
(#24) The Red-Lipped Batfish Wants to Give Prey a Smooch
The red-lipped batfish walks on the seafloor - because it's such a poor swimmer - with its flattened pectoral and pelvic fins. It has a retractable appendage to lure prey close to its red lip smackers.
(#25) The Bobbit Worm Can Split a Fish in Two
The burrowing bobbit worm can grow to a length of 10 feet. It attacks with such force that it can split a fish in half. If that's not terrifying enough, it also injects a toxin meant to make its prey more digestible.
(#26) The Christmas Tree Worm Decks the Halls All Year
The Christmas tree worm was discovered at the Great Barrier Reef's Lizard Island. The worm actually breathes and eats with those creepy "branches." True to the Christmas break spirit, the coral-like worms are almost entirely sedentary.
(#27) The Ugly Blobfish Is Squishy So It Floats at Extreme Depths
The blobfish will certainly not win any kind of oceanic beauty pageant, but the squishy, almost shapeless critter looks the way it does to enable itself to float more easily in the deep ocean where it lives. It's actually as sedentary as it looks: it remains almost entirely still, with no swim bladder, unlike most fish.
(#28) Weedy Seadragons Look Just Like Seaweed
The weedy seadragon is a master of disguise. It lives among seaweed and thus has adapted to blend in seamlessly with the seaweed in order to confuse and elude predators.
(#29) The Napoleon Wrasse Can Change Its Sex
The Napoleon wrasse is already a striking animal with blue-green designs that are unique to each fish, just like fingerprints. The Napoleon wrasse is also a hermaphrodite that can change from male to female, or vice versa, when necessary.
(#30) The Eastern Fiddler Ray Earned the Nickname Banjo Shark
The Australian eastern fiddler ray cruises around coral reefs to prey on shellfish. The unique, triangular markings behind its eyes have earned it the nickname "banjo shark," but we don't recommend trying to pluck it.
(#31) The Manta Ray Flips for Digestion
In all of the oceans, is there anything more graceful than a gliding manta ray? Before you answer, know that the manta ray may flip around to aid in digestion. Maybe it's not so elegant, but whatever works!
(#32) Sea Pens Are Filled with Tentacled Polyps, Not Ink
Although they look like old-fashioned quill pens anchored to the sea floor by a bulb, sea pens are actually colonies of tiny tentacled polyps that form branches. They're bioluminescent, but how they use that cool feature is unclear.
(#33) The Pompeii Worm Likes It Extra Hot
The Pompeii worm is one of the most heat-tolerant animals on Earth. It lives near super-hot hydrothermal vents in the ocean. Scientists think a symbiotic relationship with "fleece-like" bacteria may give the wormss their insane heat-resistance.
(#34) Juvenile Longfin Batfish Pretend to Be Leaves
If you're a newly born ocean critter, you'll try anything to survive. The juvenile longfin batfish lives in sea grass and, to increase its chances of survival, acts like a leaf floating in the water to mimic its surroundings and not stand out to hungry predators.
(#35) The Frogfish Is a Master of Camouflage
The frogfish can change colors to blend into the coral reefs in which it lives. The fish have stripes, spots, warts, and other skin anomalies that help it impersonate rocks and plants on the reef.
(#36) Comb Jellies Look Like Underwater UFOs
Comb jellies look like underwater UFOs, but the light show isn't due to bioluminescence. The light is scattered by moving cilia that propel the jellies through the water. They may look innocent, but they're actually voracious predators.
(#37) The Dumbo Octopus Swims with Elephant Ears
Those aren't ears on the dumbo octopus, but the fins sure do resemble a certain animated Disney elephant. The dumbo octopus uses its protruding ear-like fins to swim.
(#38) The Munnopsis Isopod Is Like a Deep-Sea Pill Bug
Scientists don't know much about the Munnopsis isopod except that it is closely related to the pill bugs you find on land. They kind of look like something Sigourney Weaver would try to blow out the airlock in an Alien movie.
(#39) The Armored Snail Is Built Like a Tank
Not many predators are going to try to take a bite out of the multilayered armored snail. You can find them over hydrothermal vents, deep in the Indian Ocean. Researchers say studying the creature "could inspire tough new materials for use in everything from body armor to scratch-free paint."
(#40) Giant Tube Worms Live in Extreme Environmental Conditions
Before you rule out life existing in the harsh climates of other worlds in our solar system, consider the giant tube worm. They live in crushing depths with zero sunlight and freezing cold temperatures. But they also thrive near hydrothermal vents that spew out superheated water containing toxic chemicals.
(#41) Some Deep-Sea Fishes Have Ultra-Black Skin That Serves As Camouflage
At least 16 species of deep-sea fishes, including the Pacific blackdragon pictured here, have ultra-black skin that can absorb 99.5% of light, according to a study published in Current Biology in July 2020. Sunlight doesn't reach the depths of the sea, so bioluminescent organisms can reveal prey.
Researchers found that some fish have a layer of cells in their skin optimized to reflect light, thus shielding them from predators. "If you want to blend in with the infinite blackness of your surroundings, sucking up every photon that hits you is a great way to go," said Karen Osborne, a marine biologist with the the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.
According to a news release from the Smithsonian, "ultra-black" means "blacker than black paper, blacker than electrical tape, blacker than a brand-new tire."
The discovery could apply to current technology, the study said, because "black surfaces have the potential to inspire the design of synthetic ultra-black materials."
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About This Tool
Do you have a deep-ocean phobia? On this huge and beautiful planet, some of the strangest and scariest creatures in the universe live in the ocean. There is no place on earth that is more fearful and dangerous than the ocean, and there are hunters lurking in the darkest depths at any time in the dark water. The number of terrorist creatures is incredible, with tens of thousands of known or unknown marine creatures.
This random tool introduces cool and scary facts about 41 sea creatures on earth, some of them are ancient marine species with a history of more than thousands of years. It is clear and blue, but there are too many secrets under the ocean.
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