Deep beings. The most incredible deep sea inhabitants
The drop fish that
It is a deep-sea bottom fish living at depths of 600 meters.
Blobfish
is a deep-sea fish that lives in deep waters near Australia and Tasmania. Extremely rare in humans and considered critically endangered.
The appearance of this strange and extremely interesting fish quite quirky. On the front of the fish's snout there is a process that resembles a large nose. The eyes are small and set near the “nose” in such a way that it creates external resemblance with a “human” face. The mouth is quite large, its corners are directed downwards, which is why the face of the drop fish always seems to have a sad and despondent expression. It is thanks to its expressive “face” that the blob fish firmly holds first place in the ranking of the strangest sea creatures.
An adult fish grows up to 30 cm. It lives at depths of 800 - 1,500 m. The body of the fish is a watery substance with a density less than that of water. This allows the blob fish to “fly” above the bottom without wasting energy on swimming. Its lack of muscles does not prevent it from hunting small crustaceans and invertebrates. In search of food, the fish hovers above the ocean floor with an open mouth, into which food is stuffed, or lies motionless on the ground, hoping that rare invertebrates will swim into its mouth.
The blobfish has been poorly studied. Although it has been known for quite some time in Australia as “ Australian scalpin"(Australian bull) there is very little detailed information about her life. Interest in fish has increased in Lately due to the fact that it has become increasingly caught in trawl nets adapted for catching deep-sea crabs and lobsters. Although trawl fishing in the Pacific and Indian Oceans is limited, this ban is aimed only at preserving existing coral reefs, and is allowed in the deep ocean. Therefore, biologists argue that trawling can significantly reduce the population of blobfish. There are calculations that say that doubling the current number of fish requires from 5 to 14 years.
This slow increase in numbers is associated with another interesting feature of the blob fish. She lays eggs directly on the bottom, but does not leave her clutch, but lies on the eggs and “hatches” them until the young emerge from them. Such reproduction is not typical for deep-sea fish, which lay eggs that rise to the surface and mix with plankton. Other deep-sea creatures, as a rule, descend to greater depths only at sexual maturity and remain there until the end of their lives. The drop fish does not leave its kilometer depth. The newly born fish remain under protection for some time. adult until she gains enough independence to live alone.
Amazing creatures live on great depth ocean. Of all deep sea creatures sea devils, or anglerfish, live the most amazing lives.
These creepy-looking fish, covered with spines and plaques, live at a depth of 1.5-3 km. The most notable feature of the monkfish is the fishing rod that grows from the dorsal fin and hangs over the predatory mouth. At the end of the fishing rod there is a glowing gland filled with luminescent bacteria. Sea devils use it as bait.
The prey swims towards the light, and the angler carefully moves the fishing rod towards its mouth, and at some point very quickly swallows the prey. In some species, the fishing rod with a flashlight is located directly in the mouth, and the fish, without bothering too much, simply swims with its mouth open.
Externally, bats are very similar to stingrays. They are also characterized by a large round (or triangular) head and a small tail, with an almost complete absence of a body. The largest representatives of pipistrelle bats reach half a meter in length, but in general they are somewhat smaller. In the process of evolution, the fins have completely lost the ability to support the fish afloat, so it has to crawl along the seabed. Although they crawl with great reluctance, as a rule they spend their leisure time simply lying passively on the bottom, waiting for their prey or luring it with a special bulb growing directly from their heads. Scientists have determined that this bulb is not a photophore and does not attract prey with its light. On the contrary, this process has a different function - it spreads a specific smell around its owner, which attracts small fish, crustaceans and worms.
Sea pipistrelles live everywhere in warm waters the world's oceans without swimming in the cold waters of the Arctic. As a rule, they all stay at depths of 200 - 1000 meters, but there are species of pipistrelle bats that prefer to stay closer to the surface, not far from the shores. People are quite familiar with pipistrelle bats, which prefer surface waters. The fish is of no gastronomic interest, but its shell has become very attractive to people, especially children. Sun-dried fish leaves behind a strong shell, reminiscent of a turtle. If you add pebbles inside it, you get a decent rattle, which has been known to residents of the eastern hemisphere living on the ocean coast since ancient times.
As one would expect, bats use the shell as protective clothing from larger deep-sea inhabitants. Only strong teeth a strong predator can break the shell to get to the meat of the fish. In addition, it is not so easy to spot a bat in the dark. In addition to the fact that the fish is flat and blends into the surrounding landscape, the color of its shell follows the color of the seabed.
Lancet fish
or simply lancetfish- a large oceanic predatory fish, which is the only living representative of the genus Alepisaurus (Alepisaurus), which translated means “h Yeshua lizard" It got its name from the word “lancet” - medical term, synonymous with scalpel.
With the exception of the polar seas, lancefish can be found everywhere. However, despite its wide distribution, information about this fish is extremely scarce. Scientists are able to get an idea of the fish only from a few specimens caught along with tuna. The appearance of the fish is very memorable. It has a high dorsal fin that extends almost the entire length of the fish. It is twice as tall as the fish, and looks like the fin of a sailfish.
The body is elongated, thin, decreasing closer to the tail and ending with a caudal peduncle. The mouth is big. The mouth slit ends behind the eyes. Inside the mouth, in addition to numerous small teeth, there are two or three large sharp fangs. These fangs give the fish the terrifying appearance of a prehistoric animal. One species of lancefish has even been named as " alepisaurus ferocious”, which indicates a person’s wariness towards fish. Indeed, looking at the mouth of a fish, it is difficult to imagine that the victim could be saved if it fell into the teeth of this monster.
The lancet fish grows up to 2 m in length, which is quite comparable to the size of the barracuda, which is considered potentially dangerous to humans.
Necropsies of the caught fish provided some insight into the lancefish's diet. Crustaceans were found in the stomach, making up the bulk of plankton, which is in no way associated with a formidable predator. Probably, the fish chooses plankton because it is not able to swim quickly, and it simply cannot keep up with fast prey. Therefore, squid and salps dominate its diet. However, the remains of Opa, tuna and other lancets were also found in some individuals of lancet fish. Apparently it ambushes faster fish, using its narrow profile and silver body coloring to camouflage itself. Sometimes a fish gets hooked while sea fishing.
Lancefish is not of any commercial interest. Although the meat is edible, the fish is not used as food due to its watery, jelly-like body.
Bagswallow this fish is named for its ability to swallow prey that is several times larger than itself. The fact is that it has a very elastic stomach, and there are no ribs in the stomach that would prevent the fish from expanding. Therefore, he can easily swallow a fish four times his length and 10 times heavier!
So, for example, not far from the Cayman Islands, the corpse of a bagworm was discovered, in the stomach of which were the remains of a mackerel 86 cm long. The length of the bagworm itself was only 19 cm. That is. he managed to swallow a fish 4 times longer than himself. Moreover, it was mackerel, known as mackerel fish, which is very aggressive. It is not entirely clear how such a small fish coped with a stronger opponent.
Outside Russia, the bagworm is called " black eater" The body of the fish is uniformly dark brown, almost black, in color. The head is medium size. The jaws are very large. The lower jaw does not have a bony connection with the head, so the open mouth of the bagworm is capable of accommodating prey much larger than the head of the predator. On each jaw, the front three teeth form sharp fangs. With them, the black eater holds the victim when he pushes it into the stomach.
Swallowed prey may be so large that it is not immediately digested. As a result, decomposition inside the stomach releases a large number of gas, which drags the sac swallow to the surface. In fact, the most famous examples of the black eater were found precisely on the surface of the water with swollen bellies that prevented the fish from escaping to the depths.
The bagworm lives at a depth of 700 - 3000 m. It is not possible to observe the animal in its natural habitat, so very little is known about its life. These are known to be oviparous fish. The most common time to spot egg clutches is during the winter in South Africa. Juveniles from April to August are often found off Bermuda and have lighter shades that fade as the fish mature. Also, larvae and young sacs have small spines, which are absent in adult fish.
Opisthoproctus lives on great depths up to 2,500 m in all oceans, with the exception of the Arctic. Their appearance is unique and does not allow them to be confused with other deep-sea fish. Most often, scientists pay attention to the unusual large head of the fish. There are large eyes on it, which are constantly turned upward, from where sunlight comes. It is worth noting that quite recently, at the end of 2008, an opisthoproctus was caught near New Zealand, which had as many as 4 eyes. However, it is known for sure that vertebrates with 4 eyes do not exist in nature. Further study of the find made it possible to determine that in fact there are only two eyes, but each of them consists of two parts, one of which is constantly directed upward, and the second looks downward. The lower eye of a fish is capable of changing the viewing angle and allows the animal to inspect environment from all sides.
The body of the opisthoproctus is quite massive; its shape resembles a brick covered with large scales. Near the anal fin of the fish there is a bioluminescent organ that acts as a beacon. The belly of the fish, covered with light scales, reflects the light emitted by the photophore. This reflected light is clearly visible to other opisthoprocts, whose eyes are directed upward, but at the same time it is invisible to other deep-sea inhabitants, which have “classic” eyes located on the sides of their heads.
It is believed that opisthoprocts are solitary and do not gather in large flocks. They spend all their time at depth, at the border of light penetration. To feed, they do not make vertical migrations, but look for prey at the top against the background of the dissecting sunlight. The diet consists of small crustaceans and larvae that are part of zooplankton.
Very little is known about fish reproduction. It is assumed that they spawn directly in the water column - throwing eggs and sperm directly into the water en masse. Fertilized eggs drift at shallower depths and, as they mature and become heavier, they sink to a depth of a kilometer.
As a rule, all opisthoprocts small size, about 20 cm, but there are species reaching half a meter in length.
- a deep-sea fish that lives in tropical and temperate zones at depths from 200 to 5,000 m. It grows up to 15 cm in length, reaching 120 g of body weight.
The sabertooth's head is large, with massive jaws. The eyes are small compared to the size of the head. The body is dark brown or almost black, strongly compressed at the sides, and in compensation for the small eyes there is a well-developed lateral line running high on the back of the fish. In the mouth of the fish, two long fangs grow on the lower jaw. In relation to body length, these teeth are the longest among known to science fish These teeth are so large that when the mouth is closed, they are placed in special grooves in the upper jaw. To achieve this, even the fish's brain is divided into two parts to make room for fangs in the skull.
Sharp teeth, curved inside the mouth, nip in the bud the possible escape of the victim. Adult sabertooths are predators. They hunt small fish and squid. Young individuals also filter zooplankton from the water. In a short period of time, a saber tooth can swallow as much food as it weighs. Despite the fact that not much is known about these fish, we can still conclude that sabertooths are quite ferocious predators. They live in small flocks or alone, making vertical migrations to dark time days for hunting. Having had enough of their time, the fish descend to greater depths during the day, resting before the next hunt.
By the way, perhaps it is the frequent migration to the upper layers of water that explains the good tolerance of sabertooths low pressure. Fish caught near the surface of the water can live in an aquarium in running water for up to one month.
However, despite their formidable weapon in the form of huge fangs, sabertooths often become prey for larger ocean fish that descend to the depths to feed. For example, the remains of saber teeth are constantly found in caught tuna. In this they are similar to hatchet fish, which also make up a significant portion of the tuna diet. Moreover, the number of finds suggests that the population of saber-tooths is quite significant.
Juvenile sabertooths are completely different from adult fish, which is why at first they were even classified as a different genus. They are triangular in shape and have 4 spikes on their heads, which is why they are called “horned”. Juveniles also have no fangs, and the color is not dark, but light brown, and only on the belly there is a large triangular spot, which will “stretch” over time over the entire body.
Saber teeth grow quite slowly. Scientists suggest that the fish can reach 10 years of age.
Hatchetfish
– deep sea fish, found in temperate and tropical waters of the world's oceans. They got their name from the characteristic appearance body, resembling the shape of an ax - a narrow tail and a wide “axe-body”.
Most often hatchets can be found at depths of 200-600 m. However, they are known to be found at depths of 2 km. Their body is covered with light silvery scales that bounce off easily. The body is strongly compressed laterally. Some hatchet species have a pronounced expansion of the body in the area of the anal fin. They grow up to large sizes– some species reach a body length of only 5 cm.
Like other deep-sea fish, hatchet fish have photophores that emit light. But unlike other fish, hatchets use their ability to bioluminescence not to attract prey, but, on the contrary, for camouflage. Photophores are located only on the belly of the fish, and their glow makes the hatchets invisible from below, as if dissolving the silhouette of the fish against the background of those making their way to the depths sun rays. The hatchets regulate the intensity of the glow depending on the brightness of the upper layers of water, controlling it with their eyes.
Some species of hatchetfish gather in huge flocks, forming a wide, dense “carpet”. Sometimes it becomes difficult for water vessels to penetrate this layer with their echolocators, for example for precise definition depths. Scientists and navigators have been observing such a “double” ocean floor since the mid-20th century. Large concentrations of hatchetfish attract some large ocean fish to such places, including commercially valuable species, such as tuna. Hatchets also form a significant part of the diet of other larger deep-sea inhabitants, such as deep-sea anglerfish.
Hatchetheads feed on small crustaceans. They reproduce by throwing eggs or laying larvae, which mix with plankton and, as they mature, sink to depth.
Orsky chimeras
- deep-sea fish, the oldest inhabitants among modern ones cartilaginous fish. Distant relatives of modern sharks.
Chimeras are sometimes called "a" ghost-cools" These fish live at very great depths, sometimes exceeding 2.5 km. About 400 million ago, the common ancestors of modern sharks and chimeras split into two “orders.” Some preferred habitats near the surface. The other, on the contrary, chose great depths as its habitat and evolved over time to modern chimeras. Currently, science knows 50 species of these fish. Most of them do not rise to depths higher than 200 m, and only rabbit fish And rat fish were not seen deep underwater. These small fish are the only representatives of home aquariums, which are sometimes simply called " catfish ».
Chimeras grow up to 1.5 m, however, in adult individuals, half of the body is the tail, which is a long, thin and narrow part of the body. The dorsal fin is very long and can reach the very tip of the tail. What gives chimeras a memorable appearance are their pectoral fins, which are huge in relation to their body, giving them the appearance of a clumsy, strange bird.
The habitat of chimeras makes them very difficult to study. Very little is known about their habits, reproduction, and hunting methods. The accumulated knowledge suggests that chimeras hunt in much the same way as other deep-sea fish. In complete darkness for successful hunt What is important is not speed, but the ability to find prey literally by touch. Most deep sea creatures use photophores to attract prey directly to their huge jaws. Chimeras, on the other hand, use a characteristic open, very sensitive lateral line to search for prey, which is one of the distinctive features of these fish.
The skin color of chimeras is varied and can range from light gray to almost black, sometimes with large contrasting spots. For protection from enemies, color at great depths is not of fundamental importance, therefore, for defense against predators, they have poisonous spines located in the front part of the dorsal fin. It must be said that at depths of over 600m. Such a fairly large fish does not have many enemies, with the exception of particularly voracious large female Indiancanths. The greatest danger to young chimeras is their relatives; cannibalism is not a rare phenomenon for chimeras. Although most The diet consists of mollusks and echinoderms. Cases of eating other deep-sea fish have been recorded. Chimeras have very strong jaws. They have 3 pairs of hard teeth that can blend with enormous power, grinding hard shells shellfish
based on materials from inokean.ru
DEEP-SEA ANIMALS, inhabitants of the World Ocean at depths from 200 to 11,022 m (Mariana Trench). There are faunas of the slope (bathial), the ocean floor (abyssal) and oceanic trenches (ultra-abyssal, or hadal, with a depth of more than 6000 m). The ocean floor accounts for about 55% of the Earth's surface and is the largest and least studied biotope. Great depths are characterized by high pressure (increases by 1 atmosphere every 10 m), lack of light, low temperature(2-4 °C), lack of food and a bottom covered with thin silty sediment. The main source of nutrients coming from the upper horizons of the water column are flows of organomineral particles and lumps (“sea snow”), as well as the remains of (pelagic) animals living in the water column (“rain of corpses”); in high latitudes big role sedimentation of phytodetritus plays a role, especially intense during the period of “blooming” of water (in 3-4 days its flow reaches the bottom, forming a continuous layer up to 3 cm thick). The characteristics of the animal world of great depths are determined by living conditions. Thus, the most striking difference between deep-sea animals is the simplification of their organization and the presence of devices for holding on semi-liquid soil (flat body shape, long limbs - stilts, etc.). Among planktonic organisms there are many transparent forms. Bioluminescence is widely used for illumination and lure of prey (anglerfish), camouflage, warning, scaring or distracting predators (shrimp from the genus Acanthephyra and cuttlefish from the genus Heterotheutis are released as smoke screen clubs of luminous liquid), as well as to attract individuals of the opposite sex (barnacle crustaceans, octopuses of the genus Japetella). There is counter-illumination - “illumination” from below, making the organism invisible in dim lighting from above (in squid, shrimp, fish). Many pelagic crustaceans have a red coloration, which performs a protective function, since the visual organs of deep-sea predators do not perceive red color.
Among large forms Those living on the bottom are dominated by echinoderms, crustaceans, mollusks, and polychaete worms. Maximum species diversity (perhaps even greater than in humid tropical forest) are distinguished by small animals (meiobenthos) with a size of 30-500 microns, among which nematodes and crayfish from the order Harpacticoids dominate. For macrobenthos there is an increase species diversity with depth. For example, in the North Atlantic greatest number species of polychaete worms, gastropods and bivalves and cumaceous crayfish occur at a depth of 2000-3000 m.
Below 10,000 m there are foraminifera, scyphoids of the genus Stephanoscyphus, sea anemones of the genus Galatheanthemum, nematodes of the genus Desmoscolex, polychaetes of the subfamily Macellicephalinae, echiurids of the genus Vitjazema, harpacticoids of the genus Bradya, isopods of the genus Macrostylis, amphipods of the genus Hirondella, bivalves of the genus Parayoldiella and Vesicomya, holothurians of the genus Prototrochus. At a depth of 6000-7000 m, long-tailed and lipariform fish live; at a depth of over 8000 m, erroneous fish are noted. Population densities at great depths are usually low, but aggregations of animals are known, for example, the holothurian Kolga hyalina in the North Atlantic at a depth of 3800 m. Most deep-sea animals disperse with the help of larvae: either self-feeding (planktotrophic) or possessing a supply of nutrients (lecithotrophic). Floating high above the bottom (sometimes for kilometers), they are transported by deep-sea currents. Some deep-sea animals have developed viviparity and gestation of young. See also Hydrothermal fauna.
Lit.: Belyaev G.M. Deep-sea oceanic trenches and their fauna. M., 1989; Gage I. D., Tyler R. A. Deep-sea biology: a natural history of organisms at the deep-sea floor. Camb., 1991; Ecosystems of the deep ocean / Ed. R. A. Tyler. Amst.; L., 2003.
26.02.2016
The depths of the seas and oceans, where sunlight does not penetrate, are home to many amazing creatures. It is believed that 98 percent of all aquatic animals live at or just above the bottom. Currently, only a small part of the vast deep-sea world has been explored, which may be for the better. Many amazing and scary creatures have been discovered, but even more of them are hidden under the water. And we can’t even imagine what terrible secrets the depths hold. Look at the photographs of eleven creatures that are the most striking representatives of the underwater kingdom.
1. Sabertooth fish
The sabertooth fish is a real sea monster. It lives in the tropical waters of the oceans at a depth of about five kilometers. Although its length averages 18 centimeters, the fish still looks terrifying. This creature got its name because of its huge teeth. Despite its threatening appearance, the saber-toothed fish is not dangerous to humans. In any case, not a single case of attack was officially registered. This deep-sea predator feeds small fish and squid.
2. Brownie shark
The goblin shark is also known as the goblin shark. This one is very rare view considered a living fossil - it appeared in the era of dinosaurs, 125 million years ago. The shark does not like sunlight and usually does not rise above 100 meters from the surface of the water. Average length this deep-sea inhabitant is about 4 meters. Many people, when they see this monster, think that the animal is crippled. But this is not so - this is just the specific “appearance” of the shark.
3. Giant isopod
These crustaceans resemble multiply enlarged woodlice. The largest isopod caught reached a length of 76 centimeters. These animals live at the very bottom under water thickness from 170 meters to 2 kilometers. Giant isopods are considered carnivores, but they typically feed on dead creatures. Although they do not disdain fish if they can catch it. When threatened, isopods curl up into a ball, just like their terrestrial relatives.
4. Catfish
Catfish typically grow up to two and a half meters in length and can weigh around 30 kilograms. Fish live at depths from 300 to 1700 meters. The most interesting feature of catfish is their puffy “faces” with plump lips. Sharp, protruding teeth give the fish a terrifying appearance.
5. Big Mouth
Largemouth is also called “pelican fish” - it’s immediately clear why. It lives deep under the surface of the ocean - from 500 meters to 3 kilometers. The largemouth has a snake-like body (up to 80 centimeters in length) and a terrifying huge mouth. The fish is capable of swallowing prey that is significantly larger in size than the largemouth. The stomach is also adapted to such extreme nutrition - it stretches to fantastic sizes.
6. Japanese spider crab
Japanese spider crabs live along the coast of Japan at depths ranging from 200 to 900 meters. The crab's body is relatively small - up to 45 centimeters, but the span of the front pair of legs can reach 4 meters. The weight of these monsters reaches twenty kilograms. Despite the menacing appearance, giant spider crabs, as a rule, have a peaceful character. In Japan, they are caught and eaten as a favorite delicacy.
7. Melanocet Johnson
Johnson's melanocetus may be the most scary creature of all those hiding under the water column. It lives at a depth of 4.5 kilometers, although it can rise to a level of 100 meters from the surface. Melacenote females grow up to 18 centimeters in length, while males are no different large sizes. In its shape, the fish resembles a drop with a mouth full of dagger-like teeth. Its head is equipped with processes with luminous photophores - in this way the predator lures its victims.
8. Frilled Shark
Frilled sharks trace their ancestry back to prehistoric times. All their closest relatives have long since died out. Sharks of this species have a long and thin body. They can reach a length of two meters. The worst thing about a shark is its teeth (about 300 pieces), which are arranged in rows (up to 29 rows on the lower jaw and the same number on the upper jaw). Frilled sharks live at a depth of about one and a half thousand meters.
9. Giant squid
Giant squids, due to their lifestyle, are almost elusive to capture on a photo or video camera. They live deep underwater and only occasionally rise to the surface. These giants grow up to 17 meters in length. Some people say that they have encountered specimens over twenty meters in length on the open sea. But there is no documentary evidence of this. To date, no giant squid have been caught. Sometimes dead animals are found washed ashore.
10. Hell Vampire
Hell vampires live in tropical and temperate ocean waters at depths of 400 meters to a kilometer. Representatives of this family have the usual head shape for squids, but the tentacles are connected by membranes like a funnel. Inside the funnel there are spikes and suction cups with which hellish vampires paralyze and restrain their victims. Although these animals are called vampire squids, they actually represent a separate family - Vampyroteuthidae.
11. Howliods
Howliods have huge mouths, full of fangs. The teeth are so large that they do not fit in the mouth. As you may have guessed, these fish are predators. When hauliodas swallow their prey, their jaw moves forward and down, and their head can tilt back. The size of the fish is not too large; they grow on average up to 35 centimeters. Hauliods usually live at depths of 500 meters to a kilometer, although they are capable of diving to much greater depths - up to 4 kilometers.
1. Angler / Fish Angler / Monkfish / European Angler / Angler Fish
This deep-sea monster can easily become the nightmare of any diver and is rightfully considered the ugliest fish on planet Earth.
As if ashamed of their ugliness, anglerfish live in the depths of the sea, where the sun's rays do not penetrate.
There are 200 species of anglerfish, which are widely distributed in the cold waters of the Atlantic and Antarctic oceans. The depths at which these creatures live are truly amazing: in 2006, a female monkfish was discovered in Mediterranean Ocean at a depth of 1.86 km.
Fishing fish spend most of their lives at the very bottom, where they bury themselves in silt or sand.
Due to their deep-sea habitat, the skin of these fish is dark gray or dark brown, which would make them inconspicuous if not for the huge flat head studded with spines and a giant mouth opening. The roof of the mouth and jaws have several rows of razor-sharp, inward-curved teeth.
Some angler fish can reach 2 meters in length and weigh up to 28 kilograms.
On the head of females there is a small appendage with a fleshy two-bladed appendage (rod), which behaves like a float and begins to fluoresce at great depths, which is why this fish got this unusual name. The rod, as a rule, is 4 times longer than the fish itself, and the fleshy appendage, filled with mucus, in which bacteria that emit light live, is located directly in front of the predator’s mouth. The angler fish's mouth is truly gigantic compared to the rest of its body, and combined with its soft, elastic body, this 'baby' fish can wholeheartedly swallow prey that is twice its size.
That. It turns out that this monster, if desired, can easily swallow an adult!
A female fishing fish can harbor up to 10 partners on her body throughout her life, but most often their number is limited to 5-6.
To better imagine how this process happens, look at this short comic:
Spawning takes place at great depths, but the eggs are lighter than water and float to its surface. Here they hatch into larvae, which begin to feed intensively, grow quickly and gradually drown until they return to their homeland - the seabed.
The monkfish is extremely aggressive and any person swimming too close to it will be immediately attacked. The bites of this fish are very deep and painful, so do not approach this monster under any circumstances.
In Italy, the meat of this monster is eaten.
2. Viper fish / sea viper/ Deep sea viper / Viperfish
An indigenous inhabitant of the mesopelagic region, the deep-sea viper can be found in tropical and temperate regions The world's oceans at depths from 80 to 1600 meters.
The viper fish belongs to the Chauliodontidae family, all members of which are excellent freaks and bloodthirsty predators.
Individuals living closer to the surface are pitch black, and their deeper-sea counterparts are completely transparent, like most inhabitants of the depths, where the sun's rays do not penetrate.
Viper fish lure prey using a special luminous organ - a photophore, which is located along their dorsal fin.
This fish has simply gigantic eyes, in comparison with the size of its body, thanks to which it can see well even in the pitch darkness of the sea depths. The mouth is armed with huge sharp teeth protruding several centimeters from the mouth.
As a rule, the prey of the deep-sea viper are fish that are two or even three times larger than themselves. The predator, with lightning speed, grabs the victim's muzzle with a death grip with its teeth-sabers, and waits until the fish, struggling in agony, is exhausted, after which, grabbing it with its teeth, it begins to literally put itself on it until it swallows it whole.
After a hearty meal deep sea viper looks like an inflated balloon bristling with sharp teeth.
The fish is stupid and aggressive to the point of disgrace. Oceanographer Stanley Dzhimnirski said that in 2006, while diving Pacific Ocean he witnessed how a viper fish attacked a humpback whale, but due to its modest size, it could not defeat the gigantic mammal, which simply ignored all the attacks of the brainless fish.
3. Alepisaurus / Alepisaurus
The large, toothy creatures, which carry the legacy of prehistoric times into the present day, can reach a length of two meters and weigh more than 8 kg.
The fish is extremely smart and is caught in fishing nets very rarely, and, according to fishermen, it is simply impossible to catch an alepisaurus with a hook.
Lives mainly in open ocean waters.
This species was first described in 1741 by one of the participants in the Second Kamchatka Expedition, Georg Wilhelm Steller, who discovered a sea monster washed up on the shore of one of the Aleutian islands.
4. Saberfish / Saberfish / Fangtooths
The saberfish or horned fish is another monster that lives in ocean depths Oh.
Despite its formidable appearance, this fish is truly miniature in size, reaching a length of only 15.24 cm.
The sabertooth has a short body, a large head and a huge mouth, with powerful jaws lined with sharp fangs.
Sabertooth fry are strikingly different from adult individuals - they have a lighter color, a different body structure and a head crowned with long spines. Adults range in color from jet black to dark brown.
The sabertooth fish is one of the deepest-sea fish in our world, which feels comfortable at depths of over 4,875 meters, where they are subject to pressure of over 425 atm.
These tiny predators attack anything that moves and are capable of swallowing whole prey that is two to three times their size. Some scientists suggest that the extreme aggressiveness of saber-tooths is a hereditary reflex developed as a result of extreme food shortages at such depths.
Sabertooth fish live in temperate and tropical oceanic regions, including waters off the coast of Australia.
5. Dragonfish / Sea dragon / Grammatostomias flagellibarba
The deep sea dragon fish is a ruthless predator that attacks anything that can be eaten. The aggression of this fish does not fit at all with its size - the body length of the sea dragon is only 15.24 cm.
The miniature monster has a large head and a large mouth, lined with sharp, fang-like teeth.
The dragon fish has a long whisker on its chin, at the end of which there is a photophore that acts as a fishing bait. Blinking and waving it back and forth in front of its toothy mouth, the predator waits until the unsuspecting prey swims close enough to it, after which, with a lightning-fast movement, it slams its powerful jaws on its head if the prey is large enough, otherwise it simply swallows it entirely.
In addition, like most deep-sea fish, the body and head of the dragon fish are dotted with photophores, which serve for communication with other representatives of its species (for example, during the mating period).
Sea dragons can be found in tropical regions of the World Ocean at depths of 1,500 meters.
6. Largemouth / Eurypharynx pelecanoides
First place in the category of the strangest and most clumsy-looking creature on planet Earth is awarded to a representative of the order of sacs - the largemouth, whose mouth looks truly gigantic in comparison with the rest of the body.
Most of the largemouth skull bones were reduced or simply disappeared due to their uselessness. As a result, it is impossible to determine what genus of fish the largemouth belongs to. Only the appearance of the fry, similar to eels, hints at the relationship of these two species.
During hunting, the lower jaw of the largemouth folds down and takes the shape of a net, into which prey that is several times larger than the hunter can easily be placed.
Many explorers of the deep sea have noticed that the largemouth, carrying prey in its mouth, looks like a flabby pelican. That's why it's sea creature often called pelican eel.
The largemouth stomach is also adapted to receiving large foods and is capable of stretching.
One more distinctive feature This inhabitant of the deep sea has a long, whip-like tail. Often the tails of largemouths caught in fishing nets were tangled into many knots.
Largemouths grow up to 2 meters in length and live at depths from 915 to 1830 meters.
7. Atlantic giant squid / Architeuthis dux
The Atlantic giant squid (Architeuthis dux) of the giant squid family, which is nicknamed the 'kraken', is the largest invertebrate in the world.
An adult female giant squid can reach 18 meters in length and weigh more than 900 kg.
About these mysterious sea monsters practically nothing is known, because They were only seen alive a couple of times. The study of sea 'krakens' is limited exclusively to the dissection of their half-decomposed corpses washed ashore.
Giant squids are carnivorous and eat whatever they can catch. During World War II, many surviving crew members of sunken ships told stories of giant sea monsters, who dragged their colleagues under the water. In addition, these creatures are credited with attacks on submarines and small ships. Confirmation of this has never been found, which does not exclude the possibility that hungry deep-sea creatures rise to the surface in search of food.
The Atlantic squid is armed with eight long tentacles (up to 5 meters) with suction cups with which it holds its prey and two powerful jaws that form a sharp beak that can easily pierce the skull of a white shark.
The sworn enemies of these monsters are sperm whales, whose strength and mass the ‘krakens’ have nothing to oppose. This can be confirmed by the fact that remains are often found in the stomachs of dead sperm whales. giant squid.
Representatives of this species of giant squid live mainly in temperate and subtropical zones Atlantic Ocean at a depth of up to 1100 meters.
8. Giant isopod / Giant isopod / Bathynomus giganteus
One of the largest members of the crustacean family, the giant isopod (Bathynomus giganteus), also known as the giant isopod, reaches a length of 45 cm and weighs up to 2 kg.
The closest relative of this animal, not far removed from its prehistoric ancestors, is considered to be the woodlice.
When threatened, the giant isopod curls up into a ball, protected by a tough, calcareous exoskeleton made up of overlapping segments covering its back.
The giant isopod has 7 pairs of legs, the first of which, at a certain stage of evolutionary development, turned into jaws, used for capturing, crushing and feeding food into the mouth, equipped with four jaws.
These giants live in sea water at a depth of over 600 meters.
9. Sea Coffin / Coffin Fish / Sea Toad / B.melanostomus
Soft spherical body and short tail this inhabitant of the ocean depths is covered with many small poisonous spines representing serious danger even for a person.
Adult length sea toad does not exceed 12 cm.
The elastic skin allows this type of fish to swell, thereby more than doubling in volume.
The sea toad belongs to the suborder of anglerfish and has a small, mobile photophore on its snout.
These fish spend most of their lives buried in the mud, only occasionally sticking their snout out of it, luring prey with a luminescent photophore.
Sea toads live in the continental regions of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans at depths of up to 2000 meters.
10. Hellish Vampire / Vampyroteuthis infernalis
The hellvampire is a relict squid and the only member of the order Vampyromorphida.
Its jelly-like body, studded with photophores, makes it look more like a jellyfish than a squid.
Is the owner of the most big eyes among animals, in comparison with other body proportions. They are located on the sides, have a spherical shape and can reach a diameter of 25 cm.
Typically, the length of an adult hellish vampire does not exceed 15 cm, but there are also 30 cm specimens.
Photophores serve for intraspecific communication, defense and attack. Thanks to them, the hellish vampire is able to generate light pulses lasting from hundredths of a second to several minutes. In addition, it can control the brightness and size of color spots.
The hellish vampire is able to change the color of his body and eyes. Depending on the lighting, the eyes can be blue or red, and the body can be velvety black, red, purple or brown.
The blood of the Hell Vampire contains the pigment hemocyanin, which contains copper, which gives it a bluish tint.
Metabolism in his body proceeds so slowly that he needs a minimal amount of food and oxygen to live. Thereby, hellish vampire manages to survive comfortably at depths of over 1000 m.
This animal is capable of developing incredible speeds, reaching 30 cm/s.
11. Long-nosed chimera / Harriotta raleighana
In the lane from Greek "chimera" - monster
A distinctive feature of this sea creature, belonging to the order Chimaeriformes, is a long nose, possessing ideal hydrodynamic properties. The long-nosed chimera is one of the fastest underwater creatures maximum speed whose movements have not yet been established.
Large round eyes allow the chimera to see well even where the sun's rays practically do not penetrate.
Long-nosed chimeras are considered distant relatives sharks, which is why they are often called 'ghost sharks' in South Africa.
They live in ocean waters temperate climate at depths from 200 to 2600 meters.
Touch poisonous thorn, located on dorsal fin, can kill a person, although this is unlikely to ever happen at a depth of 2600 meters.
12. Black Crookshanks / Chiasmodon niger
The chiasmodon genus includes five species of the most disgusting creatures, each of which could easily become an adornment to any low-budget horror film.
The most common member of this marine 'Adams family' is the black crook.
The length of these monsters is only 15-25 cm, but thanks to their wide mouth, crowned with large movable fangs, they can easily swallow a half-meter fish.
In order not to become a victim himself during the hunt, the crooked swallower swallows prey, starting from the tail, then, intercepting it with his teeth, pulls it into his stomach, which is elastic and capable of accommodating everything that fits into the mouth of this sea monster.
The crookfish is helped to find prey in pitch darkness by the lateral line organ system, which allows it to detect water vibrations.
In addition, to attract prey and communicate with potential mating partners, there are photophores on its body.
Black crabbills live in tropical and subtropical waters of the World Ocean at a depth of 700-2700 meters.
13. Frilled shark / Chlamydoselachus anguineus
The frilled shark is one of two species of the family Chlamydoselachidae, found primarily in the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
It lives at a depth of 50 to 200 meters, but can dive to 2000 meters if desired.
Most often, scientists call this animal a living fossil, because. it has undergone virtually no changes during its evolutionary development and is the brightest representative of a species that originated in the prehistoric period.
Frilled sharks reach up to two meters in length, with females being larger than males, and having a snake-like, dark-colored body that makes them look like eels. Their gill openings are decorated with skin frills, from which these sharks get their name.
This dangerous predator takes full advantage of all the advantages of its snake body during the hunt. With a lightning-fast movement, he pounces on the victim and coils around it like a snake. Flexible jaws allow it to swallow prey that is several times larger than itself, and teeth that are sharp at the ends and curved inward completely eliminate the possibility of the victim escaping from a fatal grip.
Frilled sharks feed mainly on cephalopods, fish and other sharks.
These deep-sea animals hatch from eggs that are gestated by the female for 2-3.5 years, the longest gestation among vertebrates.
And in conclusion, I want to introduce you, although not a sea hunter, and not so scary in appearance, but still an extremely dangerous river hunter who does not even disdain human flesh.
Pacu
Pacu is a fish from the piranha family, which, like the dragon fish, attacks everything it sees, only its habitat is not the depths of the sea, but shallow river backwaters.
Pacu are much larger than piranhas - the weight of an adult can reach 30 kg. Extremely sharp teeth Its somewhat human-like and powerful jaws make this pretty fish the most dangerous river predator in the world.
In order to provoke a pack to attack, it is enough to approach it at a distance of two meters.
The main habitat of these fish is concentrated in the waters of the Amazon.
Is it difficult for you to believe that such a ‘cute baby’ could cause you any harm? But in vain! Just recently, a pacu castrated two local fishermen in Papua New Guinea who died from loss of blood. More than a month This bloodthirsty creature single-handedly terrorized the residents of nearby villages until it was caught by an experienced fisherman from England, Jeremy Wade.
Deep sea fish. They live in conditions where life would seem completely impossible. Nevertheless, it is there, but it takes such bizarre forms that it causes not only surprise, but also fear and even horror. Most of these creatures live at depths between 500 and 6,500 meters.
Deep-sea fish withstand enormous water pressure at the bottom of the ocean, and it is such that fish living in the upper layers of water would be crushed. When relatively deep-sea perciformes are lifted, their swim bladder turns outward due to a drop in pressure. First of all, it is he who helps them remain at a constant depth and adapt to the pressure of water on the body. Deep-sea fish constantly pump gas into it to prevent the bubble from collapsing from external pressure. To float, the gas from the swim bladder must be released, otherwise, when the water pressure decreases, it will expand greatly. However, gas is released slowly from the swim bladder.
One of the features of real deep-sea fish is precisely its absence. When they rise up, they die, but without visible changes.
An unknown species of fish, which can be considered a living fossil, has been discovered in the deep-sea depressions of the Atlantic Ocean near Rio de Janeiro. Named Hydrolagus matallanasi by Brazilian scientists, this fish, a member of the chimera subspecies, has remained virtually unchanged over the past 150 million years.
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Along with sharks and rays, chimeras belong to the cartilaginous order, but they are the most primitive and can well be considered living fossils, since their ancestors appeared on Earth 350 million years ago. They were living witnesses to all the cataclysms on the planet and roamed the ocean a hundred million years before the first dinosaurs appeared on Earth."
Fish up to 40 centimeters long live at great depths, in giant depressions up to 700-800 meters deep, so until now they could not be discovered. Her skin is equipped with sensitive nerve endings, with which she detects the slightest movement in absolute darkness. Despite its deep-sea habitat, the chimera is not blind; it has huge eyes.
Blind deep sea fish
Victims of appetite.
The black snapper fish, which lives at depths of 700 meters and below, has adapted to absorb prey that can be 2 times longer and 10 times heavier than itself. This is possible thanks to the highly stretchable stomach of the black crook.
Sometimes the prey is so large that it begins to decompose before it is digested, and the gases released in this process push the crooked swallow to the surface of the ocean.
Crookshanks has amazing ability to frequent swallowing of living creatures larger than their own size. At the same time, like a mitten, it is pulled over the prey. For example, a 14-centimeter “dinner” fits in the stomach of an 8-centimeter giant.
Super predator of the deep sea.
Bathisaurus sounds like a dinosaur, which is actually not far from the truth. Bathysaurus ferox is a deep-sea lizard-headed species that lives in tropical and subtropical seas world, at a depth of 600-3,500 m. Its length reaches 50-65 cm. It is considered the deepest-living super predator in the world and everything that comes in its way is immediately devoured. As soon as the jaws of this devil fish slam shut, the game is over. Even her tongue is lined with razor-sharp fangs. It is hardly possible to look at her face without shuddering, and it is even more difficult for her to find a mate. But this does not bother this formidable one too much underwater inhabitant, since it has both male and female reproductive organs.
Real deep-sea hunters resemble monstrous creatures frozen in the darkness of the bottom layers with huge teeth and weak muscles. They are passively drawn by slow deep-sea currents, or they simply lie on the bottom. With their weak muscles, they cannot tear pieces out of their prey, so they do it easier - swallow it whole... even if it is larger than the hunter in size.
This is how anglers hunt - fish with a lonely mouth to which they forgot to attach a body. And this waterfowl head, baring its palisade of teeth, waves in front of itself a tendril with a luminous light at the end.
Anglerfish are small in size, reaching only 20 centimeters in length. The largest species of anglerfish, such as Ceraria, reach almost half a meter, others - Melanocete or Borophryna - have an outstanding appearance.
Sometimes anglerfish attack such large 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.
There is a refrigerator in the stomach. Alepisaurs are large, up to 2 m long, predatory fish, living in the pelagic zone of the open ocean. Translated from Latin it means “scaleless beast”, a characteristic inhabitant of open ocean waters.
Alepisaurs, fast predators, have an interesting feature: food is digested in their intestines, and their stomach contains completely intact prey, captured at various depths. And thanks to this toothy fishing gear, scientists have described many new species. Alepisaurs are potentially capable of self-fertilization: each individual produces eggs and sperm simultaneously. And during spawning, some individuals function as females, while others function as males.
Do you think this monkfish fish has legs? I hasten to disappoint you. These are not legs at all, but two males that are stuck to the female. The fact is that at great depths and in the complete absence of light it is very difficult to find a partner. Therefore, as soon as a male monkfish finds a female, he immediately bites into her side. This hug will never be broken. Later it fuses with the female’s body, loses all unnecessary organs, merges with her circulatory system and becomes only a source of sperm.
This is a fish with a transparent head. For what? At depth, as we know, there is very little light. The fish has developed defense mechanism, her eyes are located in the center of her head so that they cannot be injured. In order to see, evolution has awarded this fish with a transparent head. The two green spheres are the eyes.
Smallmouth macropinna belongs to a group of deep-sea fish that have developed a unique anatomical structure in order to fit your lifestyle. These fish are extremely fragile, and specimens of the fish that have been collected by fishermen and researchers are deformed due to pressure changes.
Most unique characteristic this fish is its soft, transparent head and barrel-shaped eyes. Typically fixed pointing upward with green "lens covers" to filter sunlight, the eyes of the Smallmouth Macropinna can rotate and extend.
In fact, what appear to be eyes are sensory organs. The real eyes are located under the forehead.
One-legged crawling
Norwegian scientists from the Institute of Marine Research in Bergen reported the discovery unknown to science creatures living at a depth of about 2000 meters. This is a very brightly colored creature crawling along the bottom. Its length is no more than 30 centimeters. The creature has only one front "paw" (or something very similar to a paw) and a tail, and at the same time does not look like any of the sea creatures known to scientists.
10994 meters. Bottom Mariana Trench. There is a complete absence of light, water pressure is 1072 times higher than the surface pressure, 1 ton 74 kilograms presses per 1 square centimeter.
Hellish conditions. But there is life even here. For example, at the very bottom they found small fish up to 30 centimeters long, similar to flounder.
One of the deepest-sea fish is the Bassogigus.
Scary teeth of the underwater world
The large-headed daggertooth is a large (up to 1.5 m long), not numerous inhabitant of average depths of 500-2200 m, presumably found at depths of up to 4100 m, although its juveniles rise to a depth of 20 m. Widely distributed in the subtropical and temperate regions of the Pacific Ocean, in During the summer months it penetrates as far north as the Bering Sea.
The elongated, serpentine body and large head with huge beak-shaped jaws make the appearance of this fish so unique that it is difficult to confuse it with anyone else. Characteristic feature external structure The daggertooth 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 daggertooth differ significantly: on the upper ones they are powerful, saber-shaped, reaching 16 mm in large specimens; on the bottom - small, subulate, directed backward and not exceeding 5–6 mm.
And these creatures are like something out of a horror movie about aliens. This is what polychaete worms look like under high magnification.
Another strange inhabitant depths - Drop fish.
This fish lives off the coast of Australia and Tasmania at a depth of about 800 m. Given the depth of water in which it swims, the blob fish does not have a swim bladder like most fish, as it is not very effective under high water pressure. Her skin is made of a gelatinous mass that is slightly denser than water, which allows her to float above the ocean floor without any hassle. The fish grows up to 30 cm in length, feeding mainly sea urchins and shellfish that swim by.
Even though this fish is inedible, it is often caught along with other prey such as lobsters and crabs, putting it at risk of extinction.
Distinctive external characteristic fish drops is her unhappy expression.
Squid-pig - just an outlet in the world deep sea monsters. So cute.
And in conclusion - a video about deep sea creatures.
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