What monsters live at the bottom of the ocean. Deep sea monster fish
Briefly about the article: Who can really be sure what is hiding there, in the many kilometers of ocean depths? Are all the stories about huge sea monsters fiction, or do the most natural monsters live right next to us? Look for answers on the pages of the World of Fantasy.
Troubled waters
Monsters of the deep sea
Understand death? Certainly. This is when the monsters finally get to you.
Stephen King, "Salimov's Lot"
Water - the best place for miracles. It's like a completely different world. Another universe is right at our fingertips. The creatures living in the ocean are completely different from those on earth and look like real aliens in comparison. Biblical monsters emerged from the “eternal sea,” and the giant Leviathan also lived there. People have already visited the Mariana Trench - the deep place on the planet - however, they still know very little about the inhabitants of those unimaginable depths, which even Everest would not reach if we decided to turn it over into the water.
Nowadays, people no longer feel a mystical horror of the sea and treat it exclusively as a consumer (for example, about 90% of toilets in Hong Kong run on sea water). However, just a hundred years ago, terrible rumors about ships being dragged to the bottom by giant octopuses still circulated in port taverns, and science fiction writers populated the oceans with mystical creatures from other dimensions.
At the bottom
Remember what ancient nautical maps looked like. Whales, dolphins, newts, snakes and shells “swimmed” in the oceans. Stories about monsters inhabiting the expanses of water appeared almost before navigation itself and have successfully survived to this day. Deep monsters, hungry for human flesh, can be found in any culture that has had contact with the sea. Ancient authors described encounters with these creatures in rather vague terms, mentioning glowing eyes, a lion's mouth, horns, fur and other attributes of the classic “prefabricated creature” characteristic of those times.
When travel to other continents ceased to be as sensational as the current flights to the moon, stories of “deadly dangers” lost the flavor of heroic tales and began to resemble the truth. In 1734, the Norwegian missionary Hans Egede, a man of common sense and not prone to exaggeration, wrote about his voyage to Greenland:
The number of evidence of encounters with sea monsters in our time has sharply decreased, but even they are quite enough to make one wonder where such unanimity comes from? Most often, a large serpentine body is described (about 10-20 meters, which cannot be compared with ancient stories about sea dragons), or some kind of amorphous mass armed with tentacles.
It is interesting that the majority of such observations fall on the lot of fishermen or people of “land” professions who accidentally find themselves at sea. And those who work closely with underwater world(submarine crews, oceanographers and even divers) encounter the mysteries of nature extremely rarely.
It is generally accepted that some (but not the most significant) part of such stories is an ordinary hoax, and the rest is a mistake or an optical illusion. Anyone who has been on the high seas understands how difficult it can sometimes be to identify a particular animal. Incessant excitement, natural optical distortions and significant observation distances - it is in such an environment that “monsters” are born. A writhing sea snake is likely to be algae, and the slimy carcass of a giant octopus is likely to be an ordinary seal.
One could put an end to this here, but literally last years It’s as if nature had mercy on scientists and gave them irrefutable evidence of the existence of one of the most popular sea monsters.
| Brake fish |
In ancient times, people were afraid of another seemingly completely harmless sea “monster” - the remora (from lat. remora- delay), that is, the fish stuck. It was believed that these small shark riders were from the family Echaeneidae (from the Greek. echein- hold, and naus- ship) can stick around the ship, completely stopping its progress like sargassum algae. Pliny the Younger called them one of the reasons for the defeat of the fleet of Mark Antony and Cleopatra at Actium. On the coasts of Africa and Australia, remora are used for fishing - they tie a live fish to a rope and release it into the sea. The stick swims up to the nearest turtle, attaches itself to it - and the fisherman easily pulls the prey ashore. A similar episode is described in Alexander Belyaev’s story “The Island of Lost Ships.” |
Kraken
Kraken - legendary sea monster, allegedly living off the coast of Iceland and Norway. There is no consensus regarding his appearance. He could equally well be an octopus or a squid. The Danish bishop Erik Pontoppidan first spoke about the Kraken in 1752, describing it as a giant “crab fish” that easily drags ships to the bottom.
According to the bishop, the Kraken was the size of a small island and was not so dangerous for ships predatory habits, how quickly he plunged into the depths of the sea - by diving, he could create an extremely strong whirlpool. As the Kraken rested at the bottom, large schools of fish swarmed around, attracted by its excrement. Pontoppidan also wrote that fishermen sometimes took risks and spread their nets directly over the monster’s lair, because this provided them with an excellent catch. On this occasion they even had a saying: “You must have fished on the Kraken.”
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Kraken, with the help of self-taught zoologists, turned into a giant octopus, but at the same time it was attributed the lifestyle of a cuttlefish or squid (most octopuses live at the bottom, squids live in the water column). Even the world famous naturalist Carl Linnaeus included the Kraken in the classification of real living organisms (the book “System of Nature”) as a cephalopod, but later changed his mind and removed all mentions of it.
Some sea disasters were blamed on the Kraken, and its relatives - giant octopuses under the common name "luska" - were allegedly found in the Caribbean Sea (it is not surprising that the heroes of the film "Pirates of the Caribbean 2" will have to fight a huge octopus). It was even called the “monk of the sea,” although the original term referred to a creature that washed up on the shores of Denmark in 1546 - a fish that, according to contemporaries, was “strikingly similar to a monk.”
Beer snack
And then the fairy tale became reality. In 1861, the French ship Alekton brought a piece of giant squid ashore. Over the next two decades, remains of similar creatures began to be found along the entire northern coast of Europe (it was later determined that changes in the temperature regime of the sea were to blame, driving these creatures to the surface). Fishermen also began to notice that the skin of some of the sperm whales they caught had strange markings - as if from very large tentacles.
In the 20th century, there was a real hunt for the once legendary Kraken, but either too young individuals (about 5 meters in length) or half-digested fragments of adults were found in fishing nets and in the stomachs of sperm whales. Luck smiled on researchers only in the 21st century.
Japanese oceanographers Kubodera and Mori spent two years trying to find the elusive Kraken by tracking the migration routes of sperm whales (these whales often hunt giant squid). On September 30, 2004, they arrived on a five-ton fishing boat near Ogasawara Island (600 miles south of Tokyo). Their tools were simple - a long steel cable with bait, a camera and a flash.
At a depth of 900 meters it finally took the bait. The giant squid, about 10 meters long, grabbed the bait, got entangled in its tentacle and spent four hours trying to free itself. During this time, several hundred photographs were taken confirming the extremely aggressive nature of this creature.
It has not yet been possible to catch live giant squids (architeuthis). However, dead, well-preserved specimens are already available general public. In December 2005, the Melbourne Aquarium put on public display a seven-meter-long Architeuthis frozen into a huge piece of ice (the monster was purchased for 100 thousand Australian dollars). Earlier this year, London's Natural History Museum showed off a nine-metre specimen preserved in formaldehyde.
Can giant squid sink ships? Judge for yourself. It can reach a length of over 10 meters (evidence of twenty-meter individuals is not confirmed by anything). Females are usually larger. Since approximately half the body length is made up of tentacles, the weight of this mollusk is measured at only a few hundred kilograms. This is clearly not enough for a large vessel (especially considering that the giant squid, like its small relatives, is completely helpless outside the water), however, taking into account the predatory habits of this creature, it can be assumed that Architeuthis poses a theoretical danger to swimmers.
Cinematic octopuses (“Rise from the Deep” or “Pirates of the Caribbean 2”) are able to playfully pierce the hull of ships with their tentacles. In practice, this is naturally impossible - the absence of a skeleton does not allow cephalopods deliver a "surgical strike". They can only act on tearing and stretching. In their natural habitat, giant squids are quite strong - at least they don't give in to sperm whales without a fight - but, fortunately, they rarely rise to the surface. However, small squids are capable of jumping out of the water to a height of up to 7 meters, so it is not worth making clear conclusions about the “combat” qualities of Architeuthis.
The eyes of the giant squid are among the largest of all living creatures on the planet - over 30 centimeters in diameter. The powerful suckers of the tentacles (up to 5 centimeters in diameter) are supplemented with sharp “teeth” that help hold the victim.
Recently it was classified even more close-up view giant squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni). Outwardly, they are slightly different from architeuthis (larger in size, with short tentacles studded with hooks instead of “teeth”), but they are found much less frequently, and only in the northern seas and at depths of about 2 kilometers. In the 1970s, a Soviet trawler caught one young specimen, and in 2003 another was found. In both cases, the length of the squid did not exceed 6 meters, but scientists calculated that an adult specimen of this species grows to at least 14 meters.
To summarize the above, as of 2006, the legendary Kraken can be safely identified as a squid. Octopuses or cuttlefish comparable in size to the mollusks described above have not yet been found. If you go on vacation at the seaside, be on the lookout.
| Sun in claws |
If we talk about crustaceans (and the Kraken was first considered something like a crab), snapper shrimp (Alpheus bellulus) would be ideal for the role of a sea monster, if they were larger and more aggressive. By sharply slamming their claw, these crustaceans produce a miniature “explosion” in the water. The shock wave spreads forward and stuns small fish at a distance of up to 1.8 meters. But this is not the most interesting thing. When clicked, bubbles are formed, emitting a weak light invisible to the human eye. It is now believed that this phenomenon (“sonoluminescence”) occurs due to the effect of ultrasound on such a bubble. It contracts with incredible force, a microscopic thermonuclear reaction occurs (hence the release of light), and a droplet of air enclosed inside heats up to the temperature of the outer shell of the Sun. If this hypothesis is confirmed, then click shrimp can be called “floating reactors.” |
Hairy snakes
Giant sea serpents appeared in historical chronicles much earlier than the Kraken (around the 13th century), however, unlike him, they are still considered fictional. The Swedish priest and writer Olaf the Great (1490-1557) in his work “History of the Northern Peoples” gave the following description of the sea serpent:
In modern times, the most famous encounter with a sea serpent occurred almost 150 years ago. On an August day in 1848, the crew of the British ship Daedalus, heading to the island of St. Helena, observed a twenty-meter aquatic reptile with a luxurious mane of hair on its neck. It was unlikely that this was a mass hallucination, so the London Times immediately burst out with a sensational article about the “find of the century.” Since then, sea snakes have been seen more than once, but not a single reliable evidence of their existence has been obtained.
Among all the candidates for the “position” of the sea serpent, the belt fish (Regalecus glesne) is most suitable. This rather rare creature, living in tropical seas, is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest (up to 11 meters) bony fish in the world.
Strap fish. |
In appearance, the fish belt really looks like a snake. Its weight can reach 300 kilograms. The meat is jelly-like and inedible. The anterior rays of the dorsal fin are elongated and form a “plume” above the head, which from a distance can be mistaken for a tuft of hair. The belt fish lives at great depths (from 50 to 700 meters), but sometimes floats to the surface. Her unique feature is that it swims in a vertical position, head up. Take a look at the photo. What might you think when you see this strange creature in the water?
| Read, watch, play |
Books featuring water monsters:
Films featuring water monsters:
Games featuring water monsters:
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If the ancients did not lie about the Kraken, then maybe we should pay more attention to other legends? After all, there are “giant versions” of familiar aquatic creatures! The American lobster grows up to 1 meter in length and 20 kilograms in weight. The limb span of the Japanese spider crab reaches 4 meters. And the jellyfish Cyanea capillata is generally the longest living creature on the planet - its bell can be 2.5 meters in diameter, and its thin tentacles extend up to 30 meters.
In 1997, US Navy hydrophone stations tracking submarines off the coast South America, recorded a very strange sound in the ocean, undoubtedly made by a living creature. The source could not be identified, however, judging by its acoustic power, none of the marine animals known today could “gurgle” so loudly.
Since time immemorial, the sea has seemed to man full of dark secrets, inhabited by various sea monsters who are ready at any moment to drag the ship into the abyss. It is not for nothing that almost all coastal peoples have myths about the mysterious inhabitants of the deep sea. From time to time, one of the ancient legends suddenly receives new confirmation. Even today, sailors sometimes see huge sea monsters, snakes and dragons in the open ocean. Sensational reports of such encounters circulate in all newspapers around the world, and sometimes it is even possible to photograph the monster.
Encounters with a sea serpent
1848, August 6 - the British Royal Navy frigate Daedalus was heading back to Plymouth after a trip to the East Indies. The ship was heading northeast, in the direction between the cape Good Hope and Saint Helena Island.
At five o'clock in the evening, the ship's midshipman, noticing a certain object overboard, reported this to the watch officer. The officer of the watch was on the bridge along with the navigator and captain. The boatswain's mate and the helmsman stood at the helm. The rest of the crew had dinner.
Coming closer, they saw that it was a sea serpent; its head rose 4 feet (1.2 m) above the water surface. The sailors estimated that the length of the monster was approximately at least 60 feet (18.3 m). There were no visible organs for translational movements. The animal was motionless: in appearance, it did not make any movements, despite the fact that it was moving at a decent speed - up to 12–15 miles per hour (19–24 km/h). approached the frigate so close that the officers standing on the deck could even see some details.
The neck, which began just behind the head, was approximately 15 inches (38 cm) long and resembled the neck of a snake - dark brown in color, with a yellow-white tinge at the throat. A seaweed-colored mane was visible on its back.
English explorer and yachtsman John Ridgway spent about five months at sea on a 50-foot (15.2 m) yacht around the world. Once, while in the Pacific Ocean, he approached Cape Horn. After a long period still water and dense fog, black clouds and high waves appeared in front of the yacht. Everyone understood: a storm was coming. And at that time some creature swam up from the stern. The team members saw albatrosses, whales, and squids glowing at night, but this was something else.
“The ship was moving at a speed of 9 or 10 knots (16.5–18.4 km/h), and for an animal this is quite a high speed, considering that it kept up with the yacht for a long time.
Its color was yellowish-brown, and it floated with a noticeable “sine wave.” The body was very strong, muscular and, being far out in the open sea, it moved for a long time at high speed through huge waves, appearing here and there. It swam with its head held motionless, and I believe that if you mentally extend the neck and body, you will get an ordinary sea serpent.”
1942 - Mr. Welsh was on board a military transport ship. He was keeping a lookout watch.
“At a considerable distance from the ship, I saw a large black object. My heart sank: I took it for an enemy submarine, and immediately sounded the alarm - the bell rang desperately throughout the ship. We got really scared. Panic was not far away. The officer on watch, after looking through binoculars, said: “Eh-uh, guys, this is not a submarine at all!” I can't understand what this is at all. Perhaps something is simply floating on the surface.”
When the ship came closer, we saw what it was - I think the word “monster” for this object fits better in total: he looked like a snake, a very thick creature - probably as thick as a tree trunk, and up to 20–30 feet (6.1–9.1 m) long, with an arched back in several places. I didn’t get a good look at the head: it was always obscured by the waves. We continued on our way, and the snake, apparently not paying any attention to us, swam on its way and after some time disappeared from sight.”
Giant squid
2002, July - a giant dead squid weighing 250 kg was discovered on the beach of the island of Tasmania. After examining his tissues, scientists concluded that he lived in a bay 200 meters deep. Previously, it was believed that the giant squid was a deep-sea animal, so the incident sparked a discussion about the reality of the legends about huge mollusks sinking ships.
The first evidence of the existence of the giant squid was found in 1856, when the Danish scientist Japetus Steenstrup conducted a study of the beak of an individual of this species washed up on the shore. Since that time, the remains of huge sea animals were constantly found on the coast or in the stomachs of sperm whales, whose bodies bore imprints of huge suckers.
The length of the tentacles of a squid discovered on the shore of the city of Hobart (Australia) was more than 15 meters. Zoologists found out that this was a female who swam out into shallow water to lay eggs and was stranded. It differed from previously discovered giant squids in having long, thin pouches of muscle attached to the base of each of its eight tentacles. This discovery was the third in Tasmania.
Scientists from Japan managed to film a living giant squid just over a decade ago. For this purpose, a special highly sensitive camera and infrared light, invisible to the human eye, were used. 2006 - Researchers managed to catch a living representative of huge mollusks for the first time.
Fish Goonch
This sea monster lives in the Kali River (between Nepal and India) and loves the taste of human meat. Its weight reaches 140 kg. People can be attacked not only in a secluded place, but also in large crowds of people. The gunch began to experience this craving for human meat because of... the customs of the people themselves. Since ancient times, local residents have used the Kali River to “bury” the dead. Partially burnt bodies are thrown into the river after Hindu rituals.
Legendary Kraken
It is believed that it was the giant squid that served as the prototype for the legendary kraken - an ocean-dwelling monster that can drag an entire ship to the bottom. As legends say, it lives off the coast of Norway and Iceland. There are different opinions about what his appearance is. Some describe it as a giant squid, others as an octopus. The first handwritten mention of the kraken can be found in the Danish bishop Erik Pontoppidan, who in 1752 recorded various oral legends about it. At first, the word “kgake” was used to describe any deformed animal that was very different from its own kind. Later it passed into many languages and began to mean precisely “the legendary sea monster.”
It was truly colossal in size; it was compared to a small island. Moreover, its danger lay precisely in its size and the speed with which the monster sank to the bottom. This created a strong whirlpool, which could have destroyed the ship. Most of the time the kraken hibernated on seabed, and then many fish swam around him. Some of the fishermen allegedly even took risks and cast their nets directly over the sleeping kraken. The kraken is believed to be responsible for many disasters at sea.
In the 18th–19th centuries, some zoologists suggested that the kraken could be a giant octopus.
Angler
In the seas and oceans lives one of the rarest deep sea monsters with an ugly appearance - monkfish. Its second name is anglerfish. The “monster” was first discovered in 1891. The fish has no scales, and ugly growths and bumps grow in its place. The mouth of this monster is surrounded by swaying rags of skin that resemble seaweed. The dark coloring adds to the unsightly appearance of the anglerfish. A huge head and a gigantic mouth slit make this deep-sea monster the ugliest on our planet.
A fleshy and long process protruding from the head of the anglerfish acts as a bait (fishing rod). This is a very serious danger for fish. Monkfish attracts its victims with the light of a “fishing rod”, which is equipped with a special gland. He lures her to his mouth, forcing her to swim inside on her own initiative. Anglerfish are unusually voracious. They can attack prey that is many times their size. During an unsuccessful hunt, both die: the victim from mortal wounds, the aggressor from suffocation.
El Cuero Creature
According to legend, the waters of Chile and Argentina are inhabited by creatures called El Cuero, which means “skin” in Spanish. El Cuero is something similar to the skin of a huge bull, along the edges of which there are processes that resemble clawed paws or spikes. It is possible to determine where the monster's head is located by the two tentacles protruding from it, at the ends of which there are red eyes. In the center of the underside of the skin, El Cuero has a mouth that looks like a huge suction cup, with the help of which the monster sucks out all the juices from the victim. Most "skins" prefer the rivers, ponds and lakes of South America, but some of them live in salty sea water. Thus, those living off the coast of the Chiloe El Cuero archipelago usually attack animals, but it also happens that people and boats become their victims.
According to the descriptions, the prototype of this monster was a giant sea devil - the largest stingray in the caudate order. The name of this species - manta - echoes one version of its name El Cuero, manta del Diablo, the literal translation of "devil's blanket". The span of the sea devil's fins reaches about 7 meters. In fact, the manta ray does not pose a danger to humans, since its interest extends to small fish and plankton. Despite its rather impressive dimensions and weight, which reaches 2 tons, giant stingrays capable of jumping out of the water to a height of 1.5 meters.
Unknown animal
1977, April - a sensational message about the discovery of fishermen from Japan spread around the world. While fishing for mackerel on the Tsuyo Maru trawler near New Zealand, the net brought back the half-decomposed remains of an unknown creature. A stench spread from a 13-meter carcass weighing up to 2 tons. The fishermen were able to distinguish a shapeless body with four limbs, a long tail and a small head on a thin neck. The find was measured, photographed, and then thrown overboard. First, part of the best-preserved limb was separated from the body and placed in a freezer.
Controversy flared up around the caught creature. Based on several poor photographs and descriptions of fishermen, Professor Yoshinuri Imaitsumi, head of the zoological department at the National Science Museum of Japan, recognized the creature caught in the net as a plesiosaur - a representative of a long-extinct group of marine reptiles. Plesiosaurs are well known from fossils from the Mesozoic era. 100–200 million years ago, like modern seals, they inhabited coastal sea areas and could crawl onto sandbanks, where they rested after hunting. Plesiosaurs, like most other reptiles, had a powerful, well-developed skeleton. Judging by the descriptions of the fishermen from the Tsuyo Maru and the photographs, the mysterious animal had no bones.
Paleontologist from Paris L. Ginzburg believes that Japanese fishermen pulled out from the sea the remains of a giant seal that became extinct 20 million years ago.
Sea Monk
In the Middle Ages, residents Northern Europe Humanoid creatures with a fish tail and flipper arms were often seen off the coast. They were called sea monks. The German theologian Konrad von Megenberg noted that sea monks danced to attract a person to the shore, and he, losing caution, approached to look at the miracle, they grabbed him and devoured him, dragging him to the bottom.
In the middle of the 16th century, one of the sea monks was discovered on the eastern shore of the Danish island of Zealand. Strange creature approximately 1.5 meters long, it was immediately sent to Copenhagen, where it was sketched by one of the founders of biology, Konrad Gesner. In the 18th century, these drawings were carefully studied by the Danish zoologist Japetus Steenstrup. The zoologist concluded that monk seas are nothing more than a ten-tentacled black cuttlefish. In our time, cryptozoologists have suggested that the prototype of the monk sea is a walrus or a flat-bodied shark. But the cuttlefish does not have the strength to pull a person under water, the walrus does not eat people, and the flat-bodied shark feeds on invertebrates and small fish, and is not interested in human meat.
Sea Bishops
Sea bishops were found in the Baltic waters. The first mention of this creature dates back to 1433, when the first caught specimen was offered to the Polish king. The clergy convinced the king that the animal should be returned to his natural environment a habitat. The bishop fish had a wide fin on its back, which it used instead of a cloak, and a crest on its head resembling a bishop's miter. Most likely, the source of this fantasy was the same sea devil.
Speckled Stargazer
Representative Astroscopus guttatus is a real sea monster. The second name of these creatures is speckled stargazer. At first glance, this nickname suits some small fish with large eyes, but this creature does not fit such a description. Not having the most attractive appearance, the speckled stargazer usually lives on the seabed, burrowing into the silt, and watching from below everything that moves nearby. It has special organs above the eyes from which electrical discharges emanate.
Giant centipede
1883 - a resident of Annam discovered on the shore of Along Bay the decomposed remains of a sea monster that resembled a giant centipede.
Iloglot
This creature is classified as a bagmouth, a group of ray-finned fish. It lives at great depths. Compared to the huge mouth, the body of the silt swallower looks disproportionately small. This fish lacks scales, ribs, swim bladder, pyloric appendages, pelvic and caudal fins. Most of the skull bones are reduced or disappeared altogether. The preserved skeleton is quite difficult to compare with other fish to establish relationships. The slight similarity of the sac-like fry with leptocephalic eels makes it possible to assume some “ family ties» between the mentioned species.
The modern ocean is home to many incredible creatures, many of which we have no idea about. You never know what lies there - in the dark, cold depths. However, none of them can compare with the ancient monsters that dominated the world's oceans millions of years ago.
In this article we will tell you about lizards, carnivorous fish and predatory whales that terrorized marine life in prehistoric times.
1. Giant stingray
What is it: 5 meters in diameter, a poisonous spike 25 long on the tail and enough strength to drag a boat filled with people? In this case, it is an eerie-looking flat sea creature that, from prehistoric times to this day, lives in salty waters from the Mekong River to Australia itself.
Stingrays have lived quietly in Australian waters since the extinction of the dinosaurs and the huge predatory sharks from which they descended. They originated in prehistoric times, but they managed to survive all the ice ages, and even the terrible eruption of the Toba volcano. They are very dangerous and should not be approached. Even if you think they are not nearby, you could be wrong - they are excellent at camouflage.
They are dangerous because they can attack you with a poisonous spike containing a neurotoxin or simply damage their vital organs. The advantage is that these prehistoric monsters are not so aggressive and will not try to eat you.
2. Melville's Leviathan (Livyatan melvillei)
Earlier in this article we already talked about predatory whales. Melville's Leviathan is the most terrifying of them all. Imagine a huge hybrid of an orca and a sperm whale. This monster was not just a carnivore - it killed and ate other whales. It had the largest teeth of any animal known to us.
Their length sometimes reached 37 centimeters! They lived in the same oceans at the same time and ate the same food as megalodons, thus competing with the largest predatory shark of the time.
Their huge heads were equipped with the same echo-sounding devices as modern whales, which made them more successful in hunting muddy water. In case it wasn't clear to anyone from the start, this animal was named after Leviathan, the giant sea monster from the Bible and Herman Melville, who wrote the famous Moby Dick. If Moby Dick had been one of the Leviathans, he would certainly have eaten the Pequod and its entire crew.
3. Helicoprion
This shark, 4.5 meters long, had a lower jaw that was a kind of curl, studded with teeth. She looked like a hybrid of a shark and a buzz saw, and we all know that when dangerous power tools become part of a predator at the top of the food chain, the whole world trembles.
Helicoprion's teeth were jagged, which clearly indicates the carnivory of this sea monster, but scientists still do not know for certain whether the jaw was pushed forward as in the photo, or moved slightly deeper into the mouth.
These creatures survived the Triassic mass extinction, which could indicate their high intelligence, but the reason could also be their residence.
4. Kronosaurus
Kronosaurus is another short-necked lizard, similar in appearance to Liopleurosaurus. What is noteworthy is that its true length is also known only approximately. It is believed that it reached up to 10 meters, and its teeth reached up to 30 cm in length. That is why it was named after Kronos, the king of the ancient Greek titans.
Now guess where this monster lived. If your assumption was related to Australia, then you are absolutely right. Kronosaurus's head was about 3 meters long and it was capable of swallowing an entire adult human. In addition, after this there was room inside the animal for another half.
Also, due to the fact that the flippers of kronosaurs were similar in structure to the flippers of turtles, scientists concluded that they were very distantly related and assumed that kronosaurs also went to land to lay eggs. In any case, we can be sure that no one dared to destroy the nests of these sea monsters.
5. Dunkleosteus
Dunkleosteus was a ten-meter predatory monster. Huge sharks lived much longer than Dunkleosteus, but this did not mean that they were the best predators. Instead of teeth, dunkleosteus had bony growths, like some species of modern turtles. Scientists have calculated that their bite force was 1,500 kilograms per square centimeter, which put them on par with crocodiles and tyrannosaurs and made them one of the creatures with the strongest bite.
Based on facts about their jaw muscles, scientists concluded that Dunkleosteus could open its mouth in one fiftieth of a second, swallowing everything in its path. As the fish grew older, the single bony dental plate was replaced by a segmented one, which made it easier to obtain food and bite through the thick shells of other fish. In the arms race called the prehistoric ocean, Dunkleosteus was a real well-armored, heavy tank.
6. Mauisaurus haasti
Mauisaurus was named after ancient god The Maori Maui, who, according to legend, used a hook to pull out the skeletons of New Zealand from the bottom of the ocean, so just from the name you can understand that this animal was huge. The Mauisaurus's neck was about 15 meters long, which is quite a lot compared to its total length of 20 meters.
His incredible neck had many vertebrae, which gave it special flexibility. Imagine a turtle without a shell with amazing long neck– this is approximately what this creepy creature looked like.
He lived during the Cretaceous period, which meant that unfortunate creatures jumping into the water to escape velociraptors and tyrannosaurs were forced to come face to face with these sea monsters. Mauisaurs' habitats were limited to the waters of New Zealand, indicating that all inhabitants were in danger.
7. Rakoscorpions (Jaekelopterus rhenaniae)
It's not surprising that the words "sea scorpion" only evoke negative emotions, but this representative of the list was the creepiest of them all. Jaekelopterus rhenaniae is a special species of crustacean scorpion that was the largest and most fearsome arthropod of its time: 2.5 meters of pure clawed terror under its shell.
Many of us are terrified of small ants or large spiders, but imagine the full spectrum of fear experienced by a person who would be unlucky enough to encounter this sea monster.
On the other hand, these creepy creatures went extinct even before the event that killed all the dinosaurs and 90% of life on Earth. Only a few species of crabs survived, which are not so scary. There is no evidence that the ancients sea scorpions were poisonous, but based on the structure of their tail, we can conclude that perhaps this really was the case.
8. Basilosaurus
Despite the name and appearance, they are not reptiles, as it might seem at first glance. In fact, these are real whales (and not the most frightening ones in this world!). Basilosaurs were the predatory ancestors of modern whales and measured between 15 and 25 meters in length. It is described as a whale, somewhat resembling a snake due to its length and ability to wriggle.
It’s hard to imagine that, while swimming in the ocean, one could stumble upon a huge creature that looked like a snake, a whale and a crocodile at the same time, 20 meters long. The fear of the ocean would stick with you for a long time.
Physical evidence suggests that basilosaurs did not have the same cognitive abilities as modern whales. In addition, they did not have echolocation capabilities and could only move in two dimensions (this means that they could not actively dive or dive to great depths). Thus, this terrible predator was as stupid as a bag of prehistoric tools and would not be able to pursue you if you dived or came onto land.
9. Liopleurodon
If there was a water scene in the Jurassic Park movie that included some of the sea monsters of the time, Liopleurodon would definitely appear in it. Although scientists argue about the actual length of this animal (some say it was up to 15 meters), most agree that it was about 6 meters, with a fifth of the length being the pointed head of Liopleurodon.
Many people think that 6 meters is not so much, but the smallest representative of these monsters is capable of swallowing an adult. Scientists have recreated a model of Liopleurodon's fins and tested them.
During the research, they found that these prehistoric animals were not so fast, but they were not lacking in agility. They were also capable of making short, quick and sharp attacks similar to those made by modern crocodiles, which makes them even more terrifying.
10. Megalodon
Megalodon may be the most famous creature on this list, but it's hard to imagine that the school-bus-sized shark ever actually existed. Nowadays, there are many different scientific films and programs about these amazing monsters.
Contrary to popular belief, megalodons did not live at the same time as dinosaurs. They dominated the seas from 25 to 1.5 million years ago, which means they missed the last dinosaur by 40 million years. In addition, this means that the first people found these sea monsters alive.
Megalodon's home was the warm ocean, which existed until the last ice age in the early Pleistocene, and it is believed that it was he who deprived these huge sharks of food and the ability to reproduce. Perhaps in this way nature protected modern humanity from terrible predators.
11. Dakosaurus
Traces of the existence of dacosaurs were first found in Germany. These predatory creatures, resembling a hybrid of reptiles and fish, dominated the oceans during Jurassic period. Their remains were found over a vast territory from Russia to England and Argentina.
Although this sea monster has been compared to modern crocodiles, its length averaged about 5 meters. Its huge and unique teeth have led scientists to conclude that Dacosaurs were at the top of the food chain in their time.
12. Nothosaurus
Despite the fact that the body length of nothosaurs was only 4 meters, they were aggressive hunters. Their mouth was full of sharp teeth and they fed mainly on fish and squid. It was believed that nothosaurs were experts in ambushes and their bodies were ideal for sneaking up on prey and taking them by surprise. It is generally accepted that nothosaurs are inextricably linked with pliosaurs, another genus of marine predators. The remains found indicate that they lived in the Triassic period more than 200 million years ago.
As soon as the horror film ends, we calm the thumping heart - it’s all fiction, it’s make-believe, this doesn’t happen in life... Especially for you and only in the deep-sea edition of DARKER, in the arena of the underwater circus of nightmares - real creatures, creatures of the gloomy depths that await your fleshy bodies!
Every time he plunges into a body of water, the author of these lines panics and imagines death. Maniacal divers (a legacy of the “Amsterdam Nightmare” I watched as a child), algae wetly sliding over the body are the tentacles of an underwater creature, and further and deeper, bloodthirsty sharks await. But summer is coming. Melting in the city is unbearable. Everyone will take a vacation or go on vacation. Will go to the deep blue sea. When he gets tired of lying on the sand, he dives into the cool waves. And there, and there...
Goblin Shark
The goblin shark or scapanorhynchus (lat. Mitsukurina owstoni) is a deep-sea shark, the only representative of the genus Mitsukurina, the only genus of the scapanorhynchus shark family (Mitsukurinidae). The muzzle ends in a long beak-like outgrowth, and the long jaws can extend far. The color is close to pink (the blood vessels are visible through the translucent skin). The largest known specimen reached a length of 3.8 meters and weighed 210 kg. It is found at depths of over 200 m throughout the world from Australian Pacific waters to the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic.
Black sea devil
Ceraciformes or, simply put, angler fish. One of those creatures that you immediately think of when thinking about deep sea monsters. A terrible grin. Damn decoy flashlight. AND unusual shape bodies are the result of natural deformation: these fish live at great depths: from 1.5 to 3 kilometers. But as soon as you bring them to the surface... they become even uglier: the difference between internal and external pressure swells their bodies.
Giant squid
It was these animals that gave rise to legends about monsters who, with their powerful tentacles, drag sea ships to the bottom. Frequent characters in ancient engravings on a marine theme. The masterminds behind the stories of the Kraken. For a long time they were considered mythical creatures. They were first described by the Danish zoologist Iapetus Smit Stenstrup in 1857. But almost 100 years passed before their existence was documented by Norwegian researchers. The body of the mighty mollusk washed ashore. But almost half a century passed until, in 2004, the first images were obtained by Japanese oceanologists. Giant squids feed on fish, other squids and octopuses. And their only natural enemy... the sperm whale! Are you saying that sunken ships are just fairy tales?..
Mantis crab
Mantis sea crayfish (Odontodactylus scyllarus) - I want to talk more about this amazing animal. But I see that he has already taken a fighting stance with his jaws. There is a known case when this small (about 20 cm) crayfish broke an aquarium glass with one blow! And the unlucky divers, fearing decompression sickness, hurried to surface closer to the hospital to urgently reattach their finger. But this animal is worthy of the pen of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Pay attention to it unusual eyes. The marine mantis crayfish distinguishes 12 primary colors, focuses simultaneously on the foreground and background, and sees in the infrared, ultraviolet spectrum, and even in polarized light.
Giant isopod
Depth favors size. The force of gravity is compensated by the Archimedean force. That's why there are so many giant ones here. Isopods or isopods are one of the most numerous and diverse groups of crayfish: from boogers to those, as in the photo, the size of two palms of an adult man. Even though they are predators, giant isopods They usually live in places where conditions are not favorable for good hunting. Therefore, as soon as “ocean manna” descends in the form of carrion, a hundred vile arthropods gather around the carcass of a dead whale or shark.
Iloglot
Needletooth
Even though the above image is - computer work talented Ajdin Barucija from London, take a look at. Perhaps I will admire the work of the English artist and console myself with the fact that at least it is not real. The long-horned, or common sabertooth, or needletooth (lat. Anoplogaster cornuta) is a predatory fish that lives in tropical and subtropical waters of all oceans. It reaches a length of 15 cm, the weight of an adult is about 120 g. This fish is recognized as one of the most terrible animals. And the ratio of teeth to body among fish is the largest.
Sarcastic Bordered Head
Let's try to translate the English Sarcastic fringehead roughly like this. We don’t know who found them “sarcastic.” This fish behaves extremely aggressively. Defending its territory, it opens its mouth in an unusual, terrifying expression. How can one not remember the series? It is worth noting that an imaginary increase in one’s own size is a fairly common technique in the animal world. When two “bordered heads” grapple in a fight for territory or a female, they close their open mouths as if in a passionate kiss. They live in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of North America.
Moray
via Wikipedia
Huge underwater “snakes” fascinate and frighten at the same time. They can grow up to 3 meters and weigh about 50 kilograms. An experienced diver will never get close to a moray eel. Moray eels are predatory fish and extremely dangerous. They attack with lightning speed and frenzy. There are known cases of people dying from attacks by moray eels. In ancient times, it was believed that their bite was poisonous. After all, moray eels resemble snakes in their appearance. The reality is harsher. In the blink of an eye, a moray eel can tear human flesh so severely that the diver bleeds to death.
Japanese spider crab
Legs Japanese spider crab(inhabitant from 150 to 800-meter depths) can reach 3 meters in length. He lives about 100 years. This means that one individual can terrify several generations of arachnophobes. Still, Ray Bradbury was right in the story “A Matter of Taste” about the planet of huge intelligent spiders:
« - They are our friends!
- Oh God, yes.
And again tremble, tremble, tremble.
“But nothing will ever work out with them.” They're just not people».
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 they create an external resemblance to 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 the fish has increased recently due to the fact that it has become increasingly caught in trawl nets designed to catch 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 at all. Once born, the juvenile fish remains under the protection of an adult for some time until it gains sufficient independence for a solitary life.
Amazing creatures live in the great depths of the 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 the warm waters of the world's oceans, without swimming into 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. A person is quite familiar with bats, which prefer surface water. 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 you would expect, the bats’ shell serves as protective clothing from larger ones. deep sea inhabitants. Only the strong teeth of 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” - a medical term synonymous with a 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 she ambushes more fast fish, using its narrow profile and silver body coloring to camouflage. 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. The resulting decomposition inside the stomach releases large amounts 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. Watch the animal in its natural conditions habitat is not possible, 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.
Opisthoproct lives at 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 are small in size, about 20 cm, but there are species that reach 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 at night to hunt. 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 for the characteristic appearance of the body, reminiscent of 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 to small 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 the sun's rays penetrating to the depths. The glow intensity of the hatchets is adjusted depending on the brightness upper layers water, controlling it with your eyes.
Some species of hatchetfish gather in huge flocks, forming a wide, dense “carpet”. Sometimes it becomes difficult for watercraft to penetrate this layer with their echolocators, for example, to accurately determine the depth. Scientists and navigators have been observing such a “double” ocean floor since the mid-20th century. Large concentrations of hatchet fish 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 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 common ancestors modern sharks and chimeras were divided into two “orders”. Some preferred habitats near the surface. The other, on the contrary, chose as his habitat great depths 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, what is important for successful hunting 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. Great danger For young chimeras, they are represented by their own relatives; cannibalism is not a rare phenomenon for chimeras. Although most of 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 shellfish shells.
based on materials from inokean.ru
