It has been located as far deep as 5,000 meters below the surface. Its body can measure up to 15 cm long thereby making its teeth disproportionally larger than its body. This fish has some of the largest teeth in the fish family coupled with a terrifying look. It has some ‘arms’ which it uses to capture its prey. As their name suggests, these creatures are red and are massive when compared to the normal jellyfish. The big red jellyfish is found in some of the deepest parts of the sea and can grow to over 1 meter in length. Due to its attraction to eating large objects, its mouth and stomach usually enlarge in order to accommodate them. They have massive mouths, and enlarging jaws enable it to swallow prey at once, regardless of their size. They live 3,000 meters below the surface and can grow to a length of almost 6 feet. Gulper eels are lengthy creatures with massive mouths. Here is a list of some of the exotic deep sea animals ever discovered. However, what is known is that the deep sea can be very terrifying. There are thousands of these deep sea creatures yet to be classified by scientists. Surviving at these depths is unimaginable considering that water pressure here can be as high as 8 tons per square inch.

The Bony-eared Assfish has a tapered flabby body, small eyes, and the unique claim-to-fame of having the smallest brain-to-body ratio of any vertebrate.At the deepest depths of oceans and seas lie some of the most terrifying and diverse creatures that man has ever encountered. While there may not be giant toothed monsters down this far there are fish that have some special adaptations to life in the deep.

So, there are some benefits to life in almost total isolation-does make it difficult to find something to eat though. Possibly because it is so dark and there aren’t many large predators, cirrate octopods are able to survive in the depths without the usual inky defense mechanism found in other cephalopods (squid, cuttlefish, and the like). They even flap these ‘ears’ while they swim. The resemblance to a certain flying elephant has led to some members of this group being known as dumbo octopuses. However, unlike their shallow-water relatives, the cirrate octopods have fins off their bodies. You may think of octopuses as tropical animals, but they are down here too. One of the biggest specimens found on a recent voyage near Christmas Island was a one-metre-long Brunswig’s Cusk that came up from about 1,500 metres.Įar-like fins are only found on cirrate octopods that have specifically adapted to the deep sea. Most animals this far down are relatively small because food is scarce. Whales and some seals may occasionally venture this deep, but this isn’t exactly a friendly place for air-breathing mammals. It’s cold too-about four degrees Celsius, or the same temperature as your fridge-and only gets colder the deeper you go. The midnight zone: 1,000 to 4,000 metres below sea levelĭown here (also known as the Bathypelagic zone) there is no light from the surface, so any animals must be well adapted to life in the dark. Unfair, sure, but that’s life in the deep-you take whatever advantage you can get. Many deep-sea creatures are red for this reason as it makes them effectively invisible.Įxcept to dragonfish, which use bioluminescence to expose their prey.

Red light has the longest wavelength, so it’s the first to be filtered out by the water at about 100 metres below the surface. This dragonfish, of the genus Photostomias, can even extend its jaw.Īnother trick some dragonfish have up their sleeves is they can see, and emit, red light-a rarity in the deep. A toothy grin many sea creatures are not keen to see up close.

Cool deep sea creatures