June 26, 2023
By Aswirbaad Das
There are fascinating creatures living in our seas and oceans. They have mesmerised the scientific community and nature enthusiasts with their amazing traits and personalities. Let us dive deep and learn about 8 such creatures.
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This deep-sea creature found in temperate waters gets its name from its distinct hatchet-shaped body, which can grow up to 6 inches long. They have the ability to create their own light through bioluminescence, which helps them attract unsuspecting prey!
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
In the Northern Pacific Ocean, at a depth of 10–250 feet, resides the fiercely territorial sarcastic fringehead. When threatened by other fish, they are able to open their mouths to horrifying circumferences revealing two sets of razor-sharp teeth!
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
Found in the Indo-Pacific region, the Mandarin fish is among the most colourful species on the planet! These scaleless fishes secrete mucus from their skin, which helps repel predators and keep them clean from parasites.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
This deep-sea fish resides at depths of 600–1,200 metres off the coasts of mainland Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania. They are often called the ugliest fish in the world due to decompression damage to their jelly-like bodies when out of their natural high-pressure environment.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
The Japanese Spider Crab is a giant crustacean found commonly on the Pacific side of Japan at depths of 160–2000 feet. These scavengers of the deep have legs that can grow up to an incredible 12 feet in length!
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Living well over 1000 metres below, these pinkish beings are fearsome predators! Their disproportionately long noses have an array of electroreceptors called ampullae of Lorenzini, which help detect prey in the vast darkness of the oceans.
Image source: Alamy
The mesmerising sea angel is a type of tiny swimming snail found mainly in the Antarctic region. They possess small, transparent, gelatinous bodies with a pair of winglike structures called parapodia, which help them glide in the oceans.
Image source: Adobe Stock
This small, deep-sea fish looks truly alienesque! Found in the Bering Sea and off the coast of Baja, California, they have transparent heads made of fluid through which their eyes, brain and nerve endings can be seen! These predators reside thousands of feet below the surface.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons