1. Fangtooth Not just cute as a bug's ear, the fangtooth has the distinction of having the largest teeth of any fish in the ocean proportionate to its size. Its teeth are so big, the fish actually had to evolve holes in its skull to accomodate them when its mouth is close. Fortunately for those of us who go swimming at around 16,000 feet below the ocean, the fangtooth generally only grows to about a half foot in length and wouldn't be as much a problem for humans as the intensely crushing pressure of that depth.
2. Blobfish If you put a John Madden bobblehead in the microwave for a couple minutes it would probably come out looking like the blobfish. The fish's nasty appearance is actually an environmental adaptation, as being essentially formed goo helps the fish under the massive pressures where it lives. Not needing gas bladders to float like regular fish, the blobfish is slightly less dense than water, so it can float in place without using any energy.
3. Frill shark Considered a living fossil and more than once thought to be extinct, the frilled shark resembles an eel with small, sharp teeth. Only one has ever been held in captivity and showed its disgust for being kept in a fish tank by quickly dying.
4. Angler Fish Scourge of our friend Nemo, the angler fish is so named because of the little bobber in front of its face, a lure it uses to draw in prey to its humungous and horrifying mouth.
5. Coffinfish Looking about as surprised as a fish can get, the Coffin Fish is a bottom dweller that doesn't swim so much as walk on its fins. Like the puffer fish, when threatened, the coffin fish can expand to become larger and, presumably, uglier.
6. Chimaera Closely related to sharks, chimaera can live down to almost 9,000 feet below the surface. Their skeletons are made of cartilage rather than bone and, when looking creepy isn't enough, they defend themselves with a venomous spine. And for kicks, they have retractable sexual organs in their foreheads.
7. Dragonfish Aside from looking like something out of "World of Warcraft," dragonfish are unique among deep sea predators for the luminescent capabilities. While most fish produce a blue light to attract prey, the dragonfish produces both red and blue light. The light can have such a long wavelength as to be almost imperceptible to humans and other fish, meaning the dragonfish will see you long before you see it.
8. Grenadiers Growing to as much as 4.9 feet in length, grenadiers are one of the most common deep sea species. They tend to have giant heads, giant eyes and giant mouths and then taper off to small bodies and thin, whip-like tails, making it basically a big, swimming face. Nothing creepy about that.
9. Giant Isopod Basically an enormous roly poly bug, giant isopods suffer from deep sea gigantism. While the roly poly in your basement might be a half inch long, these things can be up to 15 inches in length and weight around 4 lbs. They scavenge the ocean floor eating whatever needs to be eaten and, occasionally, wind up in restaurants in Asia themselves, while they can probably make it into nightmares anywhere.
10. Siphonophore Often mistaken for jellyfish, siphonophores are just weird, dangerous masses of stuff that can grow up to 130 feet in length. Because they look so bizarre, it shouldn't be too surprising that their very existence is bizarre. What you see as one organism will likely be a colony of them living together. They are so interdependent that they wouldn't actually be able to survive on their own, so each part effectively works as a part of a whole. A massive, transparent, whole that can kill with its sting.
11. Ocean sunfish The heaviest fish in the world, this bad boy can weigh over one ton and looks like a head carved out of stone. Though they are named for their habit of coming to the surface to get some sun, they also tend to spend a good deal of their time at depths of up to 2,000 feet, where presumably everyone moves out of the way of the 2,000-lb. face swimming by.
12. Vampire squid Also known by its full name "vampire squid from hell" (no really, look it up), the vampire squid is the only animal in its order in existence; no other creature is like it. It flaps its fins to swim, giving it the look of flight, and is capable of producing flashes of light to disorient prey. When threatened, vampire squids turn their webbed tentacles inside out, greatly increasing their size. The fact the underside is covered in spikes helps, too. This, combined with its giant, bubble-like eyes (proportionately the largest in the animal kingdom) make vampire squids some of the weirdest creatures in the sea.
3. Frill shark Considered a living fossil and more than once thought to be extinct, the frilled shark resembles an eel with small, sharp teeth. Only one has ever been held in captivity and showed its disgust for being kept in a fish tank by quickly dying.
4. Angler Fish Scourge of our friend Nemo, the angler fish is so named because of the little bobber in front of its face, a lure it uses to draw in prey to its humungous and horrifying mouth.
5. Coffinfish Looking about as surprised as a fish can get, the Coffin Fish is a bottom dweller that doesn't swim so much as walk on its fins. Like the puffer fish, when threatened, the coffin fish can expand to become larger and, presumably, uglier.
6. Chimaera Closely related to sharks, chimaera can live down to almost 9,000 feet below the surface. Their skeletons are made of cartilage rather than bone and, when looking creepy isn't enough, they defend themselves with a venomous spine. And for kicks, they have retractable sexual organs in their foreheads.
7. Dragonfish Aside from looking like something out of "World of Warcraft," dragonfish are unique among deep sea predators for the luminescent capabilities. While most fish produce a blue light to attract prey, the dragonfish produces both red and blue light. The light can have such a long wavelength as to be almost imperceptible to humans and other fish, meaning the dragonfish will see you long before you see it.
8. Grenadiers Growing to as much as 4.9 feet in length, grenadiers are one of the most common deep sea species. They tend to have giant heads, giant eyes and giant mouths and then taper off to small bodies and thin, whip-like tails, making it basically a big, swimming face. Nothing creepy about that.
9. Giant Isopod Basically an enormous roly poly bug, giant isopods suffer from deep sea gigantism. While the roly poly in your basement might be a half inch long, these things can be up to 15 inches in length and weight around 4 lbs. They scavenge the ocean floor eating whatever needs to be eaten and, occasionally, wind up in restaurants in Asia themselves, while they can probably make it into nightmares anywhere.
10. Siphonophore Often mistaken for jellyfish, siphonophores are just weird, dangerous masses of stuff that can grow up to 130 feet in length. Because they look so bizarre, it shouldn't be too surprising that their very existence is bizarre. What you see as one organism will likely be a colony of them living together. They are so interdependent that they wouldn't actually be able to survive on their own, so each part effectively works as a part of a whole. A massive, transparent, whole that can kill with its sting.
11. Ocean sunfish The heaviest fish in the world, this bad boy can weigh over one ton and looks like a head carved out of stone. Though they are named for their habit of coming to the surface to get some sun, they also tend to spend a good deal of their time at depths of up to 2,000 feet, where presumably everyone moves out of the way of the 2,000-lb. face swimming by.
12. Vampire squid Also known by its full name "vampire squid from hell" (no really, look it up), the vampire squid is the only animal in its order in existence; no other creature is like it. It flaps its fins to swim, giving it the look of flight, and is capable of producing flashes of light to disorient prey. When threatened, vampire squids turn their webbed tentacles inside out, greatly increasing their size. The fact the underside is covered in spikes helps, too. This, combined with its giant, bubble-like eyes (proportionately the largest in the animal kingdom) make vampire squids some of the weirdest creatures in the sea.
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Thursday 29 October
By Heavytoka
The first one looks like Sarah Palin a little bit and the 2nd one kind of looks like Jason Alexander from "Seinfeld".
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Friday 30 October
By Michelle Pearl
Intriguing with how different deep sea fish are from the surface fish ... that blob fish scares me.
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