strange appearance
The deeper we go down, the smaller the number of fish, the fewer good swimmers, the smaller their size. But their appearance will become more and more surprising - more and more loose, their bodies will become gelatinous, flickering in the dark with luminous organs - photophores.
What fish live in deep seas
To date, only 7 species of fish have been found in deep-sea trenches: three species of bugs and four species of sea slugs. The record for the depth of capture belongs to abyssobrothule, caught in the Puerto Rico trench at a depth of 8370 meters, and pseudoliparis - Pseudoliparis, caught 7800 meters from the surface. Data on the life of these fish is practically absent, but as far as their appearance can be judged, these small, lethargic creatures feed on benthic crustaceans and, possibly, the remains of other animals. This is what it looks like paraliparis - paraliparis, living at a depth of 200 - 2,000 m.
Probably, fish can be found at the bottom and deeper depressions. So, during the immersion of the bathysphere “Triestvo” into the Mariana Trench at a depth of about 10,000 meters, scientists managed to photograph some kind of flounder-like creature, but further analysis of the images did not confirm the unambiguous belonging of this object to fish. In any case, there are few fish at such depths. Scientists have not yet found giant octopuses or squids that can swallow a whole ship.
Giant extinct armored fish
The armored fish that lived in the Jurassic period reached a length of more than 5 m, they lived in fresh water.
Coelacanths appeared 60 million years ago
The famous species of deep-sea fish, coelacanths (lobe-finned fish), have existed for 60 million years.
side lights
The "flashlights" themselves are small and large, single or arranged in "constellations" over the entire surface of the body. They can be round or oblong, like luminous stripes. Some fish resemble ships with rows of luminous portholes, and in predators they are often located at the ends of long antennae - rods. Many deep sea fish, such as anglerfish, luminous anchovies, hatchets, photostome, there are luminous organs - photofluors, which serve to attract prey or to camouflage from predators. In females melanocet, like in females of other deep-sea anglers (and there are 120 species of them), a “fishing rod” grows on the head. It ends with a brilliant esque. By waving the “fishing rod”, the melanocet lures the fish to itself and directs them directly into the mouth.
In luminous anchovies, photofluors are located on the tail, trunk around the eyes. The downwardly directed light of the abdominal photophores blurs the outlines of these small fish against the background of weak light coming from above and makes them invisible from below.
Hatchet photophores are located along the abdomen on both sides and on the lower part of the body and also emit a greenish light downwards. Their lateral photophores resemble portholes.
The most famous deep sea fish– this is an anglerfish. Anglerfishes originate from Perciformes. Almost 120 species of deep-sea anglerfish are known, about 10 of which are found in the northern part of Pacific Ocean. Found in the Black Sea European anglerfish (Lophius piscatorius).
The most deep sea fish
It is believed that of all vertebrates on the most great depth live fish belonging to the genus Bassogigas (family Brotulidae). From the research vessel John Eliot managed to catch bassogigasa at a depth of 8000 m.
Shellfish lived in the Jurassic
More than 5 m long, which lived in fresh water.
Crawling one-legged
Norwegian scientists from the Institute of Marine Research in Bergen reported the discovery of a creature unknown to science, living at a depth of about 2000 meters. This is a creature of very bright colors crawling along the bottom. Its length is not more than 30 centimeters. The creature has only one front "paw" (or something very similar to a paw) and a tail, and it does not look like any of the marine life known to scientists. It was not possible to catch the creature, but the scientists were able to take a good look at it and photograph it many times.
Why do fish need flashlights?
In conditions of constant darkness, the ability to glow plays a huge role. For predators, this is the lure of prey by fishing fish. In anglerfishes, the first ray of the spiny dorsal fin is shifted to the head and turned into a rod, at the end of which there is a bait that serves to attract prey. Their victims have the ability to glow, on the contrary, - a way of disorienting predators that are lost in a round dance of flashes. In some fish, only the lower part of the body glows, which makes them less visible against the background of diffused overhead light. Maybe that's how you become invisible iron fish, which has a fantastic appearance with a completely flat silvery bottom that reflects light. But the main task of photophores is, of course, the designation of individuals of the same species.
telescopic eyes
It is clear that with such developed organs of luminescence, vision should not be worse. Indeed, many of these fish have very complex telescopic eyes. So, close to the ironfish bathylychnops- a unique four-eyed fish, in which two main eyes are directed obliquely upwards, and two additional ones are directed forward and downward, which allows it to receive an almost circular image.
Many fish, especially giganthurs and bathyleptuses, have telescopic eyes on stalks, which allows them to perceive very weak light sources, such as radiation from other fish.
Blind deep sea fish
With a further increase in depth and the complete disappearance of signs of light, vision ceases to play. important role and the eyes gradually atrophy. Completely blind views appear. Many of these deep-sea creatures are passive, with flabby, gelatinous bodies often lacking tail fins. Having descended four kilometers into the water, you will see rat-tailed grenadiers with “armored” heads and sensitive antennae, typhlonus, which most of all resemble a small airship, they have no tail fin, they are completely blind and hunt only at the expense of the lateral line, galateataum, which lure prey right in your mouth ... And, of course, the most amazing anglerfish lasiognathus, or Lasiognathus saccostoma(which, by the way, means in translation "the ugliest among the ugly"). The fish called Bombay ducks, - scaleless, large-mouthed, characterized by a flabby texture fatty body and brownish-brown. Ateleopus - gelatinous, covered with smooth slippery skin, it most of all resembles a huge half-meter tadpole. His head makes a great impression - not at all a fish, soft and translucent, covered with delicate slippery skin, it resembled something jelly-like. A small funnel-shaped and completely toothless mouth raised strong doubts about the ability of its owner to eat fish and crustaceans.
Fish that can't swim
sea bats (Ogcocephalidae) only V “in bellies” crawl along the bottom with the help of “arms and legs” - pectoral and ventral fins. They spend their whole lives lying on the bottom, passively waiting for prey. The family contains 7 - 8 genera and about 35 benthic species living in tropical and subtropical waters of the World Ocean. They are characterized by a huge disk-shaped flattened head and a short narrow body covered with bony tubercles or spikes. They have a small mouth with small teeth and tiny gill openings. A short “rod” (illicium), which is crowned with a bait (escoy), is drawn into a special vaginal tube located just above the mouth. A hungry fish throws out an illicium and lures prey by rotating the esca. The largest marine bats do not exceed 35 cm in length.
In the countries of South-East Asia, from disc bats (Halieutaea) make baby rattles. Cut out from dried fish abdominal cavity, completely scrape out the insides, put small pebbles in their place; the incision is carefully sewn up and the spikes covering the body are ground down.
Only females have rods
Lasiognath males Lasiognathus saccostoma They also differ in larvae from females in the absence of the “illicia” rod. During metamorphosis in males, the head and jaws are greatly reduced, the eyes remain large, and the olfactory organs are greatly enlarged. In females, the opposite is true: the head and jaws increase greatly, and the olfactory and visual organs become smaller; in the adult state, the "ladies" reach 7.5 cm. In addition, the males have special teeth in the front of the mouth, merging with their bases and serving to capture microprey and attach to females.
When the male is ten times smaller than the female and fuses with her
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Alepisaurus (Alepisaurus) potentially capable of self-fertilization: each individual produces eggs and sperm at the same time. And during spawning, some individuals function as females, while others function as males. Alepizaurs are large, up to 2 m long, predatory fish that live in the pelagial of the open ocean. Translated from Latin, it means "scaleless beast", a characteristic inhabitant of open ocean waters.
Spawning of deep sea fish
…happens on great depths. Developing eggs gradually rise upward, and larvae 2 - 3 mm long hatch in the near-surface layer 30 - 200 m, where they feed mainly on copepods and planktonic chaetognatha. By the beginning of metamorphosis, the juveniles have time to descend to a depth of more than 1000 m. Apparently, its immersion is completed quickly, since females at the stage of metamorphosis are found in layer 2 - 2.5 thousand m, and males at the same stage - at a depth of 2 thousand m. In the layer 1500 - 2000 m, both sexes live, which have passed metamorphosis and have reached maturity, but sometimes adults are also found at shallower depths.
Adult females feed mainly on deep-sea bathypelagic fish, crustaceans and, less frequently, cephalopods, while adult males, like larvae, feed on copepods and chaetognaths. The vertical migrations of deep-sea anglerfish associated with individual development are explained by the fact that only in the near-surface layer can their inactive and numerous larvae find enough food to accumulate reserves for the upcoming metamorphosis. Huge losses due to the eating of eggs and larvae by predators are compensated in anglers by a very high fecundity. Their caviar is small (no more than 0.5 - 0.7 mm in diameter), their transparent larvae resemble tiny balloons, due to the fact that they are dressed in a skin case inflated with gelatinous tissue. This fabric increases the buoyancy and size of the larvae, which, along with transparency, protects them from small predators.
Hunting with a vacuum
Interesting to hunt sticktail (Stylophorus chordatus)- a bizarre fish with telescopic eyes and two long tail rays, forming an elastic rod, exceeding the length of the fish itself. Waiting for the appearance of prey (small crustaceans), the sticktail slowly drifts in an upright position. When the crustacean is nearby, the fish sharply pushes forward its tubular mouth, increasing its volume. oral cavity almost 40 times, and the crustacean is instantly drawn into this vacuum trap.
deep sea predators
There are many fast swimmers in the water column of medium depths, especially among predators. They pierce the water column, rising to the surface, and there, while chasing flies, sometimes jump out into the air. This (for example, Anotopterus nikparini), alepisaurs, godwit, rexia. All of them have powerful teeth and a long, slender body, which allows them to pursue prey in stealth and easily evade pursuers. But all the same, when you see these swift hunters, their "deepness" is easily guessed by the same characteristic sagging of their bodies. However, this does not prevent them from attacking such strong fish, like salmon, and leave characteristic cut wounds with powerful jaws. Rexia seem to sometimes hunt cooperatively. They tear their prey to pieces, and then parts of the same prey are found in the stomachs of different predators caught by the same trawl.
Many of these deep-sea hunters have a very striking and memorable appearance. So, alepisaurs are “decorated” with a huge flag-shaped fin and, with a one and a half meter length, weigh only about 5 kilograms, their body is so banal.
Scary teeth of the underwater world
Big-headed daggertooth (Anotopterus nikparini) is a large (up to 1.5 m long), a few inhabitants of medium depths of 500-2200 m, it is presumably found at depths up to 4100 m, although its juveniles rise to a depth of 20 m. It is widespread in its subtropical and temperate regions of the Pacific Ocean, in the summer months it penetrates north to the Bering Sea.
An elongated, serpentine body and a large head with huge beak-shaped jaws make the appearance of this fish so peculiar that it is difficult to confuse it with someone else. A characteristic feature of the external structure of the dagger-tooth is its huge mouth - the length of the jaws is about three-quarters of the length of the head. Moreover, the size and shape of the teeth on different jaws of the dagger-tooth differ significantly: on the upper - they are powerful, saber-shaped, reaching 16 mm in large specimens; on the lower - small, subulate, directed backwards and not exceeding 5-6 mm.
Studies carried out in the last decade by scientists from different countries have shown that the daggertooth is an active predator. He hunts, as a rule, on schooling pelagic fish, such as saury, herring and Pacific salmon - pink salmon, sockeye salmon and sim. Based on data on the shape, location, and direction of cuts on the victim's body (mainly from the back to the lower body), scientists believe that the daggertooth attacks mainly from below. Most likely, he is waiting for his prey, hovering in the water column with his head up. In this case, the best disguise is provided and the predator can get close to the prey as close as possible. When attacking, two options are possible: a direct throw vertically upwards and a throw with a short-term pursuit of the victim. It is unlikely that the daggertooth, with its not very muscular body and poorly developed tail, could have pursued such good swimmers as salmon for a long time.
Of particular interest is the question of how the daggertooth manages to inflict such serious damage on such large fish as Pacific salmon. After examining the structure of the teeth of the daggertooth, scientists came to the conclusion that cut wounds “help” him to make the salmon themselves. The attacked fish actively tries to escape after the predator managed to grab it. But the awl-shaped teeth of the lower jaw directed backwards firmly hold the prey. However, if she makes a turn around the axis of capture, releasing her body from the mandibular teeth of a predator, she immediately manages to escape, but at the same time the body is cut by the saber-shaped teeth of a dagger-tooth.
Refrigerator in the stomach
Alepisaurus, swift predators, have an interesting feature: their food is digested in their intestines, and the stomach contains completely whole prey seized at various depths. And thanks to this toothy fishing tool, scientists have described many new species.
Angler swallows whole
Real deep-sea hunters resemble monstrous creatures frozen in the darkness of the bottom layers with huge teeth and weak muscles. They are passively attracted by slow deep currents, or they simply lie on the bottom. With their weak muscles, they cannot tear pieces out of the prey, so they do it easier - they swallow it whole ... even if it is larger than the hunter. This is how anglers hunt - fish with a lonely mouth, to which they forgot to attach a body. And this waterfowl, bared by a palisade of teeth, waves its antennae with a luminous light at the end in front of it.
Anglerfish are small in size, reaching only 20 centimeters in length. The largest types of anglers, for example ceraria, reach almost half a meter, others - melanocet or borofrine have an outstanding appearance .
Sometimes anglers attack such big fish that an attempt to swallow them sometimes leads to the death of the hunter himself. So, once a 10-centimeter anglerfish was caught, choking on a 40-centimeter longtail.
Analyzing the catch after deep-sea trawling in the western Pacific, scientists noticed the tightly stuffed belly of a tiny 6 cm anglerfish, from which seven freshly swallowed victims were recovered, including a 16 cm fish! Perhaps gluttony was the result of his brief association with the captives of the trawl.
Like a mitten, pulls on the prey
Crookshanks (Pseudoscopelus) has an amazing ability to frequently swallow living creatures that exceed their own size. This is a scaleless fish about 30 cm long, with flaccid muscles and a huge mouth armed with hefty teeth. Its jaws, body, and stomach can be highly stretched, allowing it to swallow large prey. Some Zhivoglost have the ability to glow. Previously, they were considered quite rare species, and only recently it was found that they are willingly eaten by marlin and tuna, descending to these depths for fattening.
However, many of them can swallow the victim whole more than themselves. For example, a 14 cm howlilod is placed in the stomach of an 8 cm giant.
New discoveries of deep sea fish
A strange appearance The deeper we go down, the smaller will be the number of fish, the fewer good swimmers, the smaller their size. But their appearance will become more and more surprising - they will become more and more loose, gelatinous ...
"/>Yesterday, September 26, was World Maritime Day. In this regard, we bring to your attention a selection of the most unusual sea creatures.
World Maritime Day has been celebrated since 1978 on one of the days of the last week of September. This international holiday was created in order to draw public attention to the problems of pollution of the seas and the disappearance of animal species living in them. Indeed, over the past 100 years, according to the UN, some species of fish, including cod and tuna, have been caught by 90%, and every year about 21 million barrels of oil enter the seas and oceans.
All this causes irreparable damage to the seas and oceans and can lead to the death of their inhabitants. These include those that we will discuss in our selection.
1 Octopus Dumbo
This animal got its name due to the ear-like formations protruding from the top of its head, which resemble the ears of the Disney elephant Dumbo. However, the scientific name of this animal is Grimpoteuthis. These cute creatures live at depths of 3,000 to 4,000 meters and are among the rarest octopuses.
The largest individuals of this genus were 1.8 meters long and weighed about 6 kg. Most of the time, these octopuses swim above the seabed in search of food - polychaete worms and various crustaceans. By the way, unlike other octopuses, these swallow their prey whole.
2. Short-nosed bat
This fish attracts attention, first of all, with its unusual appearance, namely, bright red lips on the front of the body. As previously thought, they are necessary to attract marine life, which feeds on the bat. However, it was soon found out that this function is performed by a small formation on the head of the fish, called an eska. It emits a specific smell that attracts worms, crustaceans and small fish.
The unusual "image" of the bat complements the no less amazing way of its movement in the water. Being a poor swimmer, he walks along the bottom on his pectoral fins.
The short-nosed bat is a deep-sea fish, and lives in the waters near the Galapagos Islands.
3. Branched brittle stars
These deep sea animals have many branched rays. Moreover, each of the rays can be 4-5 times larger than the body of these brittle stars. With the help of them, the animal catches zooplankton and other food. Like other echinoderms, branched brittle stars have no blood, and gas exchange is carried out using a special water-vascular system.
Usually branched brittle stars weigh about 5 kg, their rays can reach 70 cm in length (in branched brittle stars Gorgonocephalus stimpsoni), and the body is 14 cm in diameter.
4. Trumpet-snout harlequin
This is one of the least studied species that can, if necessary, merge with the bottom or imitate a twig of algae.
It is near the thickets of the underwater forest at a depth of 2 to 12 meters that these creatures try to stay in order to dangerous situation they were able to acquire the color of the ground or the nearest plant. In the “calm” time for harlequins, they slowly swim upside down in search of food.
Looking at a photograph of the harlequin pipe-nosed, it is easy to guess that they are related to seahorses and needles. However, they differ markedly in appearance: for example, the harlequin has longer fins. By the way, this form of fins helps the ghost fish to bear offspring. With the help of elongated ventral fins covered with inside filiform outgrowths, the female harlequin forms a special bag in which she bears eggs.
5 Yeti Crab
In 2005, an expedition exploring the Pacific Ocean discovered extremely unusual crabs at a depth of 2,400 meters, which were covered with "fur". Because of this feature (as well as coloration), they were called "yeti crabs" (Kiwa hirsuta).
However, it was not fur in the truest sense of the word, but long feathery bristles covering the chest and limbs of crustaceans. According to scientists, many filamentous bacteria live in the bristles. These bacteria purify water from toxic substances ejected hydrothermal springs, next to which "crabs-yeti" live. And there is also an assumption that these same bacteria serve as food for crabs.
6. Australian cone
This dwelling in coastal waters the Australian states of Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia are found on reefs and in bays. Because of its small fins and hard scales, it swims extremely slowly.
Being a nocturnal species, the Australian pine cone spends the day in caves and under rock ledges. So, in one marine reserve in New South Wales, a small group of cones was registered, which hid under the same ledge for at least 7 years. At night, this species comes out of the shelter and goes hunting on sandbanks, illuminating its path with the help of luminous organs, photophores. This light is produced by a colony of symbiotic Vibrio fischeri bacteria that have settled in photophores. Bacteria can leave the photophores and simply live in seawater. However, their luminescence dims a few hours after they leave the photophores.
It is interesting that the light emitted by the luminous organs is also used by fish to communicate with relatives.
7. Lyre Sponge
The scientific name of this animal is Chondrocladia lyra. It is a species of carnivorous deep-sea sponge, and was first discovered in a Californian at a depth of 3300-3500 meters in 2012.
The sponge lyre gets its name from its harp or lyre-like appearance. So, this animal is held on seabed with the help of rhizoids, root-like formations. From their upper part stretches from 1 to 6 horizontal stolons, and on them vertical "branches" with spatulate structures at the end are located at an equal distance from each other.
Since the lyre sponge is carnivorous, it captures prey, such as crustaceans, with these “branches”. And as soon as she manages to do this, she will begin to secrete a digestive membrane that will envelop her prey. Only after that, the lyre sponge will be able to suck in the split prey through the pores.
The largest recorded sponge-lyre reaches almost 60 centimeters in length.
8. Clown
Living in almost all tropical and subtropical seas and oceans, clownfish are one of the fastest predators on the planet. After all, they are able to catch prey in less than a second!
So, having seen a potential victim, the "clown" will track it down, remaining motionless. Of course, the prey will not notice it, because the fish of this family usually resemble a plant or a harmless animal with their appearance. In some cases, when the prey comes closer, the predator will begin to move the esca, an outgrowth of the anterior dorsal fin that resembles a "fishing pole", which makes the prey even closer. And once a fish or other marine animal gets close enough to the clown, it will suddenly open its mouth and swallow the prey in just 6 milliseconds! Such an attack is so lightning fast that it cannot be seen without slow motion. By the way, the volume of the oral cavity of the fish while catching the victim often increases 12 times.
In addition to the speed of clownfish, an equally important role in their hunting is played by the unusual shape, color and texture of their cover, allowing these fish to mimic. Some clownfish resemble rocks or coral, while others resemble sponges or sea squirts. And in 2005, the Sargassum sea clown was discovered, which imitates algae. The "camouflage" of clowns can be so good that sea slugs often crawl on these fish, mistaking them for corals. However, they need "camouflage" not only for hunting, but also for protection.
Interestingly, during the hunt, the "clown" sometimes sneaks up on prey. He literally approaches her using his pectoral and ventral fins. These fish can walk in two ways. They can alternately move their pectoral fins without using their pelvic fins, or they can shift their body weight from their pectoral fins to their pelvic fins. Gait in the latter way can be called a slow gallop.
9. Smallmouth macropinna
The small-mouthed macropinna living in the depths of the northern part of the Pacific Ocean has a very unusual appearance. She has a transparent forehead, through which she can look out for prey with her tubular eyes.
A unique fish was discovered in 1939. However, at that time it was not possible to study it well enough, in particular the structure of the cylindrical eyes of a fish, which can move from a vertical position to a horizontal one and vice versa. This was only done in 2009.
Then it became clear that the bright green eyes of this small fish (it does not exceed 15 cm in length) are in the head chamber filled with a transparent liquid. This chamber is covered by a dense, but at the same time elastic transparent shell, which is attached to the scales on the body of the small-mouthed macropinna. The bright green color of the fish's eyes is due to the presence of a specific yellow pigment in them.
Since the small-mouthed macropinna is characterized by a special structure of the eye muscles, its cylindrical eyes can be both in a vertical position and in a horizontal position, when the fish can look directly through its transparent head. Thus, the macropinna can notice the prey, both when it is in front of it, and when it swims above it. And as soon as the prey - usually zooplankton - is at the level of the fish's mouth, it quickly grabs it.
10 Sea Spider
These arthropods, which are not actually spiders or even arachnids, are common in the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas, as well as in the Arctic and Southern Oceans. Today, more than 1300 species of this class are known, some of which reach 90 cm in length. However, most sea spiders are still small in size.
These animals have long paws, which is usually about eight. Also, sea spiders have a special appendage (proboscis) that they use to suck food into the intestines. Most of these animals are carnivorous and feed on cnidarians, sponges, polychaete worms and bryozoans. So, for example, sea spiders often feed on sea anemones: they insert their proboscis into the body of an anemone and begin to suck in its contents. And since sea anemones are usually larger than sea spiders, they almost always survive such “torture”.
Sea spiders live in different parts world: in the waters of Australia, New Zealand, off the Pacific coast of the United States, in the Mediterranean and Caribbean seas, as well as in the Arctic and Southern oceans. Moreover, they are most common in shallow water, but can be found at a depth of up to 7000 meters. Often they hide under rocks or camouflage themselves among algae.
11. Cyphoma gibbosum
The color of the shell of this orange-yellow snail seems very bright. However, only the soft tissues of a live mollusk have this color, and not the shell. Usually Cyphoma gibbosum snails reach 25-35 mm in length, and their shell is 44 mm.
These animals live in warm waters Western Atlantic Ocean, including the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and in the waters of the Lesser Antilles at a depth of up to 29 meters.
12. Mantis shrimp
Living at shallow depths in tropical and subtropical seas, mantis shrimp have the most complex eyes in the world. If a person can distinguish 3 primary colors, then the mantis shrimp - 12. Also, these animals perceive ultraviolet and infrared light and see different types light polarization.
Many animals are able to see linear polarization. For example, fish and crustaceans use it to navigate and locate prey. However, only mantis shrimp are able to see both linear polarization and the rarer, circular polarization.
Such eyes enable mantis shrimp to recognize different types of corals, their prey and predators. In addition, during the hunt, it is important for cancer to deliver accurate blows with its pointed grasping legs, which is also helped by its eyes.
By the way, sharp, serrated segments on grasping legs also help mantis shrimp to cope with a prey or predator, which can be much larger in size. So, during the attack, the mantis shrimp makes several quick kicks with its legs, which causes serious damage to the victim or kills her.
The seas and oceans occupy more than half of the area of our planet, but they are still shrouded in secrets for mankind. We strive to conquer space and are looking for extraterrestrial civilizations, but at the same time, only 5% of the world's oceans have been explored by people. But even these data are enough to be horrified, what creatures live deep under water, where it does not penetrate sunlight.
1. Common Hauliod (Chauliodus sloani)
The Howliod family has 6 species of deep-sea fish, but the most common of them is the common Howliod. These fish live in almost all waters of the world's oceans, with the exception of cold waters. northern seas and the Arctic Ocean.
The chaulioids got their name from the Greek words "chaulios" - open mouth, and "odous" - tooth. Indeed, in these relatively small fish (about 30 cm long), teeth can grow up to 5 centimeters, which is why their mouth never closes, creating a terrible grin. Sometimes these fish are called sea vipers.
Howliods live at a depth of 100 to 4000 meters. At night, they prefer to rise closer to the surface of the water, and during the day they descend into the very abyss of the ocean. Thus, during the day, fish make huge migrations of several kilometers. With the help of special photophores located on the body of the howliod, they can communicate in the dark with each other.
On the dorsal fin viper fish has one large photophore, with which it lures its prey directly to its mouth. After that, with a sharp bite of needle-sharp teeth, howliodas paralyze the prey, leaving it no chance of salvation. The diet mainly consists of small fish and crustaceans. According to unreliable data, some individuals of howliods can live up to 30 years or more.
2. Longhorn sabertooth (Anoplogaster cornuta)
The longhorn sabertooth is another fearsome deep-sea predatory fish living in all four oceans. Although the sabertooth looks like a monster, it grows to a very modest size (about 15 centimeters in a dyne). The head of a fish with a large mouth occupies almost half the length of the body.
The long-horned sabertooth got its name from the long and sharp lower fangs, which are the largest in relation to the length of the body among all fish known to science. The terrifying appearance of the sabertooth earned him the unofficial name - "monster fish".
The color of adults can vary from dark brown to black. Young representatives look completely different. They have a light gray color and long spikes on their heads. The sabertooth is one of the deepest-sea fish in the world, in rare cases they descend to a depth of 5 kilometers or more. The pressure at these depths is enormous, and the water temperature is near zero. There is catastrophically little food here, so these predators hunt for the first thing that gets in their way.
3. Dragonfish (Grammatostomias flagellibarba)
The size of the deep-sea dragon fish absolutely does not fit with its ferocity. These predators, which reach a length of no more than 15 centimeters, can eat prey two or even three times its size. Dragon fish lives in the tropical zones of the oceans at a depth of up to 2000 meters. The fish has a large head and a mouth equipped with many sharp teeth. Like the Howliod, the dragonfish has its own prey bait, which is a long, photophore-tipped whisker located on the chin of the fish. The principle of hunting is the same as that of all deep-sea individuals. With the help of a photophore, a predator lures the victim to the closest possible distance, and then inflicts a deadly bite with a sharp movement.
4. Deep sea anglerfish (Lophius piscatorius)
The deep-sea angler is rightfully the ugliest fish in existence. In total, there are about 200 species of anglerfish, some of which can grow up to 1.5 meters and weigh up to 30 kilograms. Because of the terrible appearance and bad temper, this fish was nicknamed the sea-devil. inhabit deep sea anglers everywhere at a depth of 500 to 3000 meters. The fish has a dark brown color, a large flat head with many spikes. The devil's huge mouth is studded with sharp and long teeth, curved inwards.
Deep-sea anglerfish have pronounced sexual dimorphism. Females are ten times larger than males and are predators. The females have a rod with a fluorescent protrusion at the end to lure fish. Anglerfish spend most of their time on the seabed, burrowing into sand and silt. Due to the huge mouth, this fish can swallow whole prey, exceeding its size by 2 times. That is, hypothetically, a large anglerfish can eat a person; Fortunately, there have never been such cases in history.
5. Saccopharyngiformes
Probably the strangest inhabitant sea depths you can call the baghort or, as it is also called, the large mouth of the pelican. Due to its abnormally huge mouth with a bag and a tiny skull in relation to the length of the body, the baghort looks more like some kind of alien creature. Some individuals can reach two meters in length.
In fact, sac-like fish belong to the class of ray-finned fish, but there are not too many similarities between these monsters and cute fish that live in warm sea backwaters. Scientists believe that the appearance of these creatures has changed many thousands of years ago due to the deep-sea lifestyle. Baghorts do not have gill rays, ribs, scales and fins, and the body has an oblong shape with a luminous process on the tail. If not big mouth, then the sackcloth could easily be confused with an eel.
Mesh shorts live at depths from 2000 to 5000 meters in three world oceans, except for the Arctic. Since there is very little food at such depths, sackworms have adapted to long breaks in food intake, which can last more than one month. These fish feed on crustaceans and other deep-sea counterparts, mostly swallowing their prey whole.
6. Giant squid (Architeuthis dux)
The elusive giant squid, known to science as Architeuthis Dux, is the largest mollusk in the world and can supposedly reach a length of 18 meters and weigh half a ton. On the this moment a living giant squid has not yet fallen into human hands. Until 2004, there were no documented cases of meeting with a live giant squid at all, and the general idea of \u200b\u200bthese mysterious creatures was formed only by the remains thrown ashore or caught in the nets of fishermen. Architeutis live at a depth of up to 1 kilometer in all oceans. Apart from giant size these creatures have the largest eyes among living beings (up to 30 centimeters in diameter).
So in 1887, the largest specimen in history, 17.4 meters long, was thrown onto the coast of New Zealand. In the following century, only two large dead representatives of the giant squid were found - 9.2 and 8.6 meters. In 2006, the Japanese scientist Tsunemi Kubodera still managed to capture on camera a live female 7 meters long in natural environment habitat at a depth of 600 meters. The squid was lured to the surface by a small bait squid, but an attempt to bring a live individual aboard the vessel was unsuccessful - the squid died from numerous injuries.
Giant squid are dangerous predators, and the only natural enemy for them are adult sperm whales. There are at least two reported cases of squid and sperm whale fighting. In the first, the sperm whale won, but soon died of suffocation giant tentacles clam. The second fight took place off the coast of South Africa, then a giant squid fought with a baby sperm whale, and after an hour and a half fight, he still killed the whale.
7. Giant isopod (Bathynomus giganteus)
The giant isopod known to science as Bathynomus giganteus is largest view crustaceans. The average size of a deep-sea isopod ranges from 30 centimeters, but the largest recorded specimen weighed 2 kilograms and was 75 centimeters long. In appearance, giant isopods are similar to woodlice, and similarly giant squid are the result of deep-sea gigantism. These crayfish live at a depth of 200 to 2500 meters, preferring to burrow into the silt.
The body of these terrible creatures is covered with hard plates that act as a shell. In case of danger, crayfish can curl into a ball and become inaccessible to predators. By the way, isopods are also predators and can eat a few small deep-sea fish and sea cucumbers. Powerful jaws and strong armor make the isopod a formidable foe. Although giant crayfish love to eat live food, they often have to eat the remains of shark prey that fall from the upper layers of the ocean.
8. Latimeria (Latimeria chalumnae)
The coelacanth or coelacanth is a large deep-sea fish whose discovery in 1938 was one of the most important zoological finds of the 20th century. Despite its unattractive appearance, this fish is notable for the fact that for 400 million years it has not changed its appearance and body structure. In fact, this unique relic fish is one of the oldest living creatures on planet Earth, which existed long before the advent of dinosaurs.
Latimeria lives at a depth of up to 700 meters in the waters indian ocean. The length of the fish can reach 1.8 meters with a weight of more than 100 kilograms, and the body has a beautiful blue tint. Since the coelacanth is very slow, it prefers to hunt at great depths, where there is no competition from faster predators. These fish can swim backwards or belly up. Despite the fact that the meat of the coeliant is inedible, it is often the object of poaching among local residents. Currently ancient fish is under threat of extinction.
9. Goblin shark or mitzekurina (Mitsukurina owstoni)
The deep-sea goblin shark, or as it is also called the goblin shark, is the most poorly understood shark to date. This species lives in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean at a depth of up to 1300 meters. The largest specimen was 3.8 meters long and weighed about 200 kilograms.
The goblin shark got its name due to its creepy appearance. Mitzekurin has mobile jaws that move outward when bitten. The goblin shark was first accidentally caught by fishermen in 1898, and since then 40 more specimens of this fish have been caught.
10. Infernal Vampire (Vampyroteuthis infernalis)
Another relic representative of the sea abyss is a one-of-a-kind detritophage cephalopod, which has an external resemblance to both squid and octopus. The infernal vampire got its unusual name due to the red body and eyes, which, however, depending on the lighting, can be blue color. Despite their terrifying appearance, these strange creatures grow only up to 30 centimeters and, unlike other cephalopods, eat only plankton.
The hellish vampire's body is covered in luminous photophores, which create bright flashes of light that scare away enemies. In case of exceptional danger, these small mollusks twist their tentacles along the body, becoming like a ball with spikes. Hellish vampires live at depths of up to 900 meters, and can perfectly exist in water with an oxygen level of 3% or less, which is critical for other animals.
The selection presents a wide variety of living creatures that inhabit the depths of the sea: strange and unusual, creepy and frightening, colorful and incredibly cute. Many of them have been opened recently.
Marine "flycatcher"
These predator shells live in deep-sea canyons near California. According to the method of hunting, they are somewhat similar to carnivorous plants, they are fixed at the bottom and calmly wait until the unsuspecting prey swims into the open mouth itself. This way of eating does not allow them to be too picky in food.
shark walker
Off the coast of the island of Halmahera (Indonesia), a new species of shark was discovered, which “walked” along the bottom in search of prey, just like a lizard. unusual fish a relative of the bamboo shark, grows up to 70 cm in length. She hunts mainly at night, and small fish and invertebrates become her dinner. And by the way, this is far from the only fish, which "walks" along the seabed. Representatives of the family of bats and lungfish are able to walk on fins.
Christmas tree
lovers marine fauna and divers so call the colorful inhabitants of the Pacific and Indian Ocean. In fact, this is a tubular polychaete marine worm, its Latin names– Spirobranchus giganteus.
No fish, no...
This is a mollusc and it does not fit at all into the idea of how gastropods should actually look like. Tethys (Tethys fimbria) are quite large, about 30 cm long, their almost shapeless translucent body is decorated with bright processes irregular shape. Tethys are widespread in the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, where they slowly glide along the seabed.
Pugaporcinus
If there was a competition for the title of "weirdest worm", pugaporcinus would easily bypass all the other participants. These unusual inhabitants ocean depths are better known in narrow circles as "flying buttocks". Their existence was only recently known, in 2007. The creature is no larger than a hazelnut.
tripod fish
Bright hallmark This fish is long thin pectoral fins, with which it rests on the seabed and stands in anticipation of prey. Not surprisingly, the name of this fish is Brachypterois grallator, or simply tripod fish. Scientists still know little about them, since the creatures live at a depth of 1000 to 4500 meters. The length of the fish is about 30-35 cm.
Thaumaticht axel
These representatives of the anglerfish detachment were discovered not so long ago, but are named after Danish prince Christian Axel, who died in the middle of the last century. Axel is considered one of the strangest and most unattractive creatures, although there are not so many sympathies that live at a depth of 3500 meters (remember at least the star of the Internet - a drop fish). In length, they reach 50 cm, or rather, scientists managed to meet fish of this size. In the creature's mouth is a special gland with luminous bacteria. To start the hunt, the fish simply open their mouths and potential victims will float to the light source.
moonfish
bat
A fish from the family of ray-finned detachment of the very ugly anglerfish. Widely distributed in warm tropical and subtropical seas, except for the Mediterranean. Lives at depths up to 100 meters.
sea spiders
These harmless creatures live in almost all waters with normal salinity. As with common spiders, their body is relatively small from 1 to 7 cm, but the leg span can be up to 50 cm. There are about 1000 species of sea spiders.
mantis shrimp
This colorful creature has unique vision and moves at incredible speed, but most of the time the true predator hides in coral reefs at a depth of 2 to 70 meters. Sometimes it is called a fighting cancer or even a terrorist cancer. Officially, he is a mantis shrimp. Why, it becomes clear at a glance. The segments of the mandibles of these crayfish are bent at an angle, like in praying mantises. Just like insects, crayfish are able to instantly throw a limb forward, much faster than a person blinks.
giant underwater pipe
Pyrosomes or fireballs are tiny sea creatures somewhat similar to jellyfish, they are only a few millimeters long, but when combined into a giant colony, they create huge translucent pipes up to several meters long. And it is also worth remembering that they are capable of bioluminescence. Imagine a huge underwater pipe glowing in the night - a breathtaking sight.
Undersea world full of many inhabitants. Everyone who has experienced scuba diving has forever retained in their memory unforgettable impressions of the beauty and diversity of the flora and fauna of the sea or ocean floor.
Sponges
Along with a variety of fish, unusual algae on the seabed, there are creatures so unusual that it is impossible to determine to which category they should be assigned.
Sponges are one of these creatures. They don't have any internal organs, no sense organs. At first glance, it is impossible to say that this is an animal.
And yet it is so. Sponges are arranged primitively, adapted to life exclusively at the bottom of the seas, and the depth does not play any role for the comfortable existence of sponges. The territory of their distribution is very large, and the number of varieties is huge. Some of them even survive at the North Pole!
Lips look different. There are individuals of a spherical shape, elongated, and even in the form of an ellipse. Colors also vary: from pale and light to bright, saturated.
Sponges are multicellular animals that survive in any conditions.
To the touch, the sponge seems very fragile, since its entire body is porous. With the help of these pores, the sponge breathes and feeds. Water passes through the pores, leaving small marine plankton in the body of the sponge.
The viability of sponges is also surprising. They have an excellent ability to regenerate: no matter how many small parts a sponge is divided into, it will surely be able to recover. Sponges live from several months to fifty years.
corals
A more accurate name for such well-known organisms as corals is "coral polyps". What we used to think of as coral is actually the skeleton of a coral polyp. The coral polyp is very small in size, its shape is not as picturesque as the shape of its skeleton, but rather resembles a grain of rice. The coral polyp does not have a backbone, but it does have tentacles.
After the death of a polyp, its skeleton (otherwise it is called "corallite"), connecting with others, creates coral reef. New polyps develop directly on the skeletons of old ones, significantly changing the topography of the seabed.
Coral reefs are unusually beautiful and very attractive for diving enthusiasts. Corals are different. Coral reefs are made up primarily of stony corals. There are also soft corals and horn corals (their scientific name is gorgonians). All corals are united by love for tropical climate and high water temperature. For example, the Black Sea is not warm enough for these creatures.
To date, we know at least five hundred varieties of corals. Almost all of them prefer to live at shallow depths.
A coral polyp without its strong calcareous skeleton is very fragile. They live at the bottom or resemble a bush or tree in shape. Their colors are varied and very intricate. Coral can grow to a considerable size - from one and a half to two meters. Corals are the inhabitants of the seas and oceans. Fresh water harmful to them.
Corals need sunlight to survive. These organisms breathe with the help of tiny algae living directly in the tissues of the polyp's body.
Corals eat plankton. It sticks to their tentacles, which then send food into their mouths. The mouth is located under the tentacles.
Sometimes, due to tectonic processes, the ocean floor is no longer hidden by water. In this case, the coral reef that has got up becomes the basis for a new island.
Over time, its own flora and fauna appear on it, and then people settle on this island. Thus arose some of the inhabited islands of Oceania.
Starfish, hedgehogs, lilies
There are no such similar creatures like starfish, sea urchins and sea lilies belong to the order of echinoderms. They live exclusively in salt water, because their habitat is the sea and ocean floor.
Sea stars can reach considerable sizes - up to a meter in diameter. Along with such large specimens, there are also very tiny ones - up to several millimeters.
A starfish can have up to fifty "rays" - processes on which the eyes are located. These eyes are able to see light. Starfish are usually brightly colored and their range of colors is quite extensive. We can say that they come in all colors of the rainbow!
Despite the apparent slowness and lack of teeth, starfish are excellent predators. Firstly, they are practically omnivores, literally able to eat everything that they themselves cannot eat.
Secondly, the matter is in the special device of the starfish's stomach, which is able to digest food even outside the body of its owner. I.e, starfish it is not necessary to penetrate the shell of a mollusk yourself in order to feast on its contents. It is enough to put your stomach there and start the digestive process. And in the execution of this process, the possibilities are almost unlimited. She is able to cope even with live fish.
Sea urchins are no less gluttonous. They eat almost all the inhabitants of the underwater kingdom: plants and animals, fish and shellfish, living and dead, and even each other. Their powerful jaw allows hedgehogs to even gnaw through stones.
These are animals indistinguishable from real flowers. The similarity is exacerbated by the fact that, like plants, they are motionless. The only difference is that the stems sea lilies, in contrast to the present, no.
The sea urchin is an inhabitant of the seas and oceans. Jellyfish
Jellyfish are remarkable in that almost 100% of their mass is water.
The process of the appearance of a jellyfish into the world is no less bizarre than appearance this unusual creature. From the eggs that the adult jellyfish lays, larvae emerge, which later transform into a polyp, similar in shape to a bush. Tiny newborn jellyfish bud from it, which will grow into an adult.
The variety of jellyfish is amazing. Among them there are crumbs with a diameter of several millimeters, and real giants more than two meters in diameter. The tentacles of such giants are also gigantic: almost thirty meters. Jellyfish habitat - the entire thickness sea water, they feel equally good both on the surface of the water and at the very bottom of the sea.
Jellyfish look adorable, but some of them can be deadly. The fact is that the jellyfish leads the lifestyle of a predator, and its tentacles are not only an ornament and a means of transportation, but also a weapon for hunting. A kind of thread is hidden in them, having spikes and containing a paralyzing fluid. The slightest touch to a devilishly beautiful jellyfish for a small marine organism can turn into death, for more large creature- a serious burn.
Jellyfish stings can cause severe burns to the human body, and the venom of some species is deadly. The most dangerous jellyfish do not always look especially large or bright. For example, an inconspicuous jellyfish called a “cross” (because of the cross-shaped pattern on its “umbrella”) the size of a five-kopeck coin is incredibly dangerous to humans. Touching it threatens to cause severe burns. But this is not the worst. Following the burn, the person begins to suffocate. And since meetings with this jellyfish, of course, take place in the water, the outcome of such a date is most often disappointing.
What else distinguishes jellyfish from other inhabitants of the underwater kingdom of this kind is the speed of movement. Their "umbrella" is very mobile, and its shape allows you to move from place to place quite quickly.
underwater inhabitants as changeable as the sea itself. More recently, a jellyfish appeared in the Sea of Japan huge size. Her weight was one and a half hundred kilograms. Most importantly, this was not an isolated incident. Relatives of this jellyfish also began to grow actively. Perhaps such rapid growth is caused by the warming of the oceans.
In addition to such amazing and unlike creations of nature as the above-mentioned creatures, well-known and familiar mammals live in the seas and oceans. Not all of them use water as a permanent home, as, for example, for dolphins. Many use it as a source of food and a hunting ground. Naturally, all mammals associated with water are wonderful swimmers.
It is interesting to note that water is able to withstand any weight, and therefore many marine mammals much larger than their terrestrial counterparts.
Of those mammals that live in the water constantly, the following groups can be distinguished: cetaceans, pinnipeds, sirens and sea otters. Cetaceans include whales themselves, as well as dolphins. Pinnipeds include walruses and all kinds of seals. To the category of sirens belong such dugongs similar to mythical sirens or mermaids. It should be noted that cetaceans and sirens never come to land, but pinnipeds and sea otters rest and breed on the coast, and feed and hunt in the sea.
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