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More and more often, humans are discovering weird marine life that would tax even Dr. Suess’ imagination. These were found in places ranging from oil fields to tropical waters to Antarctica and even aquariums!
Macropinna microstoma, or the barreleye fish has a transparent head and eyes that can roll around inside to see in all directions. The green domes are its eyes; the bits that look like eyes are organs more like nostrils. See a video of this fish in action.
Histiophryne psychedilica is the new name of the frogfish discovered in the waters off Indonesia. This weird-looking fish hops along the bottom of the ocean using his fins as legs and his gills as a jet-propulsion unit. See a video here.
Elysia chlorotica pushes the limits of what is plant and what is animal. This sea slug harnesses the power of the sun by eating algae and then incorporating the alga’s chlorophyll into its own system. After two weeks of ingesting algae, the slug can go without eating anything for a year -as long as it’s exposed to sunlight.
Danionella dracula, or dracula fish is a new species discovered by accident when a shipment of aquarium fish were found to be very different from what the Natural History Museum in London expected. When the fish died, autopsies revealed that instead of teeth, the Dracula fish has bone spike protruding from its jaws! They are native to one particular stream in Burma, but may be lurking in other aquariums all over the world.
Ceratoserolis trilobitoides is an isopod that resembles a prehistoric trilobite. This one was found during an international Antarctic expedition last year called the Census of Marine Life.
The Collaborative East Antarctic Marine Census sent three ships on a two-month mission to Antarctica to study marine life in late 2007. Among the weird species they found were these tunicates that look like tulips growing out of the sea floor. They are actually animals that feed by pumping sea water through their stems. They grow up to a meter tall.
The rarely seen Magnapinna squid was recorded on video in 2007 by a Shell Oil remotely-controlled exploration vehicle at a depth of 7800 feet in the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists can’t tell which exact species it is, either M. atlantica or M. pacifica, both of which inhabit the Gulf of Mexico.
Vampyroteuthis infernalis literally means “vampire squid from hell”. Though technically neither a squid nor an octopus, this cephalopod shares traits with both. It lives up to 3,000 feet deep in the ocean. It has good control over its photospheres, spots that produce light. It can pull its arms over its head like an umbrella to hide from attackers, but if some other creature bites an arm off, it will regenerate. Instead of ink, the vampire squid can expel a cloud of bioluminescent mucus. But you won’t know how truly weird it is until you see it in action in this video.
makes you wonder what else is down there, doesn’t it? That barrel-eye thing looks like something from outer space.
posted by KCGronk on 3-12-2009 at 9:38 am
I am now officially obsessed with the Vampire Squid from Hell!
posted by Dana on 3-12-2009 at 9:56 am
The Vampire Squid from Hell is pretty much the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.
posted by Katie on 3-12-2009 at 11:52 am
So, what about Territopsis Nutricula, the jellyfish that can’t die?
posted by G on 3-12-2009 at 1:48 pm
Can you imagine how excited the guy who named The Vampire Squid from Hell was? I mean, really.
There should be Vampire Squid from Hell tee-shirts. And a fan club.
posted by Zelda on 3-12-2009 at 1:53 pm
no matter how much video evidence i see, i just can’t make the leap that the barreleye fish is real.
posted by the creature on 3-12-2009 at 4:09 pm
The barreleye fish is fascinating. Why is the Nautilus not included on the list?
posted by Kathryn on 3-12-2009 at 8:55 pm
Many, many weird sea creatures are not included. This list could be 100 items long if I had the time! I decided to limit this list to specimens discovered (and photographed) in the last couple of years.
posted by Miss Cellania on 3-12-2009 at 9:38 pm
way to go, miss cellania!! very cool list!!
how amazing is the solar sea slug?? i am fascinated!!!
posted by audrey on 3-12-2009 at 11:37 pm
I also love the parrot fish. It bites off chunks of coral and when it digests them, it “creates” sand, which replenishes the very beaches on which we lie (think about that next time you’re at the shore).
I’ve already come up with the T-shirt slogan for it: Parrot fish — eats rock, sh*ts sand.
How much cooler or tougher could a fish be?
posted by Southern Buddhist on 3-13-2009 at 1:46 am
Provably the creepiest of the 8 is the Dracula Fish. No wonder it’s named after the famous vampire. And I’m reading this list March 15, at 10:08 in the evening on my iPod touch in my bed with the lights turned off. You must have felt the horror I was experiencing right now.
posted by Karl on 3-15-2009 at 10:10 am
Some of them have nice colors but they are really weird. There are so many life forms we don’t even know
posted by Costa on 5-5-2009 at 11:29 am
cool
posted by marcai on 6-28-2009 at 1:08 pm
I actually already knew about the vampire squid from hell and it is one of my favorite critters. Along with the cookie cutter shark and the platypus. if you like weird critters look them up!
posted by Jesi on 7-10-2009 at 11:36 pm