Scary sea fish. Amazing inhabitants of the deep sea

Despite the fact that water occupies 70% of the surface of our planet, the oceans remain a mystery to humans. No more than 5% of the world's oceans have been explored, the rest of it is beyond human knowledge. But several interesting information Nevertheless, we managed to obtain information, for example, about what creatures live deep underwater, where sunlight does not penetrate.
1 place. Bathysaurus

This lizard-headed creature is very reminiscent of long-extinct dinosaurs in a reduced form. This similarity is probably why it got its name. Bathisaurus lives in the seas of tropical and subtropical climate at a depth of 600 to 3500 meters and reaches a length of 50-65 cm. It is considered the deepest predator, a mini-machine killer that devours everything that gets in its way. Bathysaurus even has teeth on its tongue. By the way, this monster is a hermaphrodite, i.e., it has both male and female sexual characteristics.

2nd place. Angler

This is probably the ugliest creature in the world; when you see it, you can’t help but be scared. There are about 200 species of deep-sea monkfish, most of them found in the Atlantic Ocean. Some of these creatures grow up to a meter, and they lure prey with a glowing tail. Their mouth is so large and their body is so flexible that they can swallow prey twice their size.

3rd place. frilled shark

This prehistoric creature lived and hunted well back in the days when dinosaurs roamed the earth. People very rarely have the opportunity to see this formidable predator, since the frilled shark prefers to stay at a depth of 1500 meters, where it hunts mainly for cephalopods.

4th place. Fish - drop

This fish somewhat resembles a person with an unhappy expression on his face, upset by his ugliness. It lives mainly off the coast of Tasmania at a depth of 800 meters and feeds on mollusks and sea ​​urchins. The blob fish does not have an air bubble, and its body consists of a jelly-like substance, slightly denser than water, which allows it to easily move along the seabed.

5th place. Pisces - Leo

According to some reports, the lion fish appeared in the Caribbean Sea relatively recently, and became a real disaster for the local inhabitants. Unfamiliar with this type of fish, many try to taste it, and as a result they themselves become prey. These fish have poisonous spines, so the only one who can eat a lion fish is another lion fish, since they are not only predators, but also cannibals.

6th place. Fish - viper

This deep-sea fish is known as one of the most ruthless predators of the seabed. She is easily recognized by her large mouth with huge sharp fangs. In fact, the teeth are so long that they don't fit in her mouth and reach her eyes. Like angler, the viper fish lures its prey with its glowing tail and pierces it with its terrible teeth. Her body is so flexible that she is able to swallow victims larger than herself.

7th place. Woodlice eating tongue

8th place. Sac-eater, or black eater

This fish, up to 30 cm long, lives in the seas of a subtropical climate. It got its name because of its elastic stomach, which can accommodate fish four times the size of the bagworm. The lower jaw has no bony connection to the skull, and there are no ribs on the stomach. All this helps the fish swallow food.

9th place. Macropinna Microstoma

This small fish is known for its transparent head, inside of which there are green eyes. It lives in the cool waters of the Pacific and Northern Arctic Ocean at a depth of 200 to 600 meters.

10th place. Sea bat

This is a bottom-dwelling fish, very reminiscent of a stingray, lives mainly in warm waters seas and oceans at depths from 200 to 1000 meters. She has big head and a small tail, the body itself is practically absent. The bat does not know how to swim, and crawls along the bottom with reluctance. Basically, he just lies there and waits for the food to swim up to him.

The selection presents a wide variety of living creatures that inhabit the depths of the sea: strange and unusual, creepy and frightening, colorful and incredibly cute. Many of them were opened quite recently.

Marine "flycatcher"

These shell-predators live in deep-sea canyons near California. In terms of their hunting method, they are somewhat similar to carnivorous plants; they attach themselves to the bottom and calmly wait until the unsuspecting prey swims into the gaping mouth. This way of eating prevents them from being too picky about food.

Shark pedestrian

It was discovered off the coast of Halmahera Island (Indonesia). the new kind a shark that “walked” along the bottom in search of prey, exactly like a lizard. Unusual fish a relative of the bamboo shark, it grows up to 70 cm in length. She hunts mainly at night, and her dinner is small fish and invertebrates. And, by the way, this is far from the only fish that “walks” along the seabed. Representatives of the bat and lungfish families can walk on fins.

Christmas tree

Lovers marine fauna and divers call this the colorful inhabitants of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It's actually a tubular polychaete sea ​​worm, his Latin names– Spirobranchus giganteus.

Neither fish nor...

This is a mollusk and it does not fit at all into the idea of ​​what gastropods should actually look like. Tethys fimbria are quite large, about 30 cm long, their almost shapeless translucent body is decorated with bright processes irregular shape. Tethys are widespread in the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, where they leisurely glide along the seabed.

Pugaporcinus

If there was a competition for the title of “weirdest worm,” Pugaporcinus would easily beat out all the other participants. These unusual inhabitants ocean depths better known in narrow circles as “flying buttocks”. Their existence became known only recently, in 2007. The creature is no larger than a hazelnut.

Tripod fish

Bright distinctive feature This fish consists of long thin pectoral fins, with which it rests on the seabed and stands in anticipation of prey. It is not surprising that the name of this fish is Brachypterois grallator or simply tripod fish. Scientists still know little about them, since the creatures live at depths from 1000 to 4500 meters. The length of the fish is about 30-35 cm.

Thaumatikht Axel

These representatives of the order of anglerfish were discovered not so long ago, and were named after the Danish prince Christian Axel, who died in the middle of the last century. Axel is considered one of the strangest and most unattractive creatures, although not many people like to live at a depth of 3500 meters (just remember the Internet star - the blob fish). They reach a length of 50 cm, or rather, scientists were able to meet fish of this size. In the creature's mouth there is a special gland with glowing bacteria. To start hunting, the fish simply needs to open its mouth and potential victims will swim towards the light source.

Moonfish

Bat

A fish from the ray-finned family of the same ugly anglerfish. Widely distributed in warm tropical and subtropical seas, except the Mediterranean. Lives at depths of up to 100 meters.

Sea spiders

These harmless creatures live in almost all waters with normal salinity. Like ordinary spiders, their body is relatively small from 1 to 7 cm, but the leg span can be up to 50 cm. sea ​​spiders there are about 1000 species.

Mantis crab

This colorful creature has unique vision and moves with incredible speed, but most of the time the true predator hides in coral reefs at depths from 2 to 70 meters. Sometimes it is called a fighting cancer or even a terrorist cancer. Officially, he is a mantis crab. Why becomes clear at first glance. The segments of the jaws of these crayfish are bent at an angle, like those of mantises. Just like insects, crayfish are able to instantly throw a limb forward, much faster than a person blinks.

Giant underwater pipe

Pyrosomes or fireworms are tiny sea ​​creatures somewhat similar to jellyfish, they are only a few millimeters long, but when united into a giant colony, they create huge translucent tubes up to several meters long. It’s also worth remembering that they are capable of bioluminescence. Imagine a huge underwater tube glowing in the night - a breathtaking sight.

Almost the entire surface of the Earth has been studied by humans. But the depths of the sea hold mysteries that are revealed gradually. With the advent of opportunities to dive deeper into the abyss, we find unusual deep sea creatures. We would like to present some of them to you. Not all of them are beautiful to look at, but they cannot be denied their originality.

Jellyfish Atoll- a rather predatory creature living at a depth where Sun rays do not penetrate, let alone divers. Its peculiarity is the ability to glow bright red. This happens when the jellyfish senses danger is approaching.

Blue Angel- Very small creature, which easily fits in the palm of a person. It has an amazing shape and color: it looks like a soaring angel, or a miniature dragon, blue on top and silver underneath. This camouflage helps him protect himself from predators, both in water and in the air. An angel can easily float to the surface of the sea by swallowing an air bubble.

Another sea ​​creature- Sponge-harp. As the name suggests, it is shaped like a harp, which clings to sea mud and uses its upper sticky tips to catch small prey.

Funny octopus Dumbo got its name due to its resemblance to the baby elephant from the Disney cartoon, although it is much smaller in size than an earthly mammal. When an octopus swims, it waves its fins, which are exactly like elephant ears. There is very little information about it, since its habitat is very deep.

In the cold depths of the sea oh lives the hairy Yeti crab. Its claws are covered with fur, making it look like a crab. Bigfoot. Living at great depths, where there is no light, made the yeti completely blind.

Strange fashionable fish The pipistrelle bat lives at a depth of 200 meters. She does not know how to swim, but only moves her shell-covered body along the bottom, using her fin legs to move. She is called a fashionista for the bright red color of her slightly protruding lips, making her look quite funny.

Handsome slug Felimare Picta lives among. What makes it extravagant is the coloring and shape of the body: the rich blue-yellow color of the body, framed by a frill. It does not have its own house (like an ordinary mollusk), because it uses a special remedy for protection - acidic sweat secreted throughout the body. It is unlikely that anyone would want to get involved with such prey.

A mollusk lives in the Atlantic Ocean, which was nicknamed "Flamingo Tongue". He is inseparable from his shell, which he carefully guards own body, and into which he hides in case of danger.

Seahorses whose bodies are “seated” with many leaves, they are called deciduous dragons. They are one of the best masters of mimicry. The leaves do not interfere at all and do not help it swim; the dragon moves with the help of two small fins.

Seas and oceans occupy more than half the area of ​​our planet, but they are still shrouded in mysteries for humanity. We strive to conquer space and are looking for extraterrestrial civilizations, but at the same time, only 5% of the world's oceans have been explored by humans. But this data is enough to be horrified by what creatures live deep underwater, where sunlight does not penetrate.

1. Common chauliod (Chauliodus sloani)

The Chauliod family includes 6 species of deep-sea fish, but the most common of them is the common hauliod. These fish live in almost all waters of the world's oceans, with the exception of cold waters. northern seas and the Arctic Ocean.

Chauliodas got their name from the Greek words “chaulios” - open mouth, and “odous” - tooth. Indeed, these relatively small fish (about 30 cm in length) have teeth that can grow up to 5 centimeters, which is why their mouth never closes, creating a creepy grin. Sometimes these fish are called sea vipers.

Howliods live at depths from 100 to 4000 meters. At night they prefer to rise closer to the surface of the water, and during the day they descend into the very abyss of the ocean. Thus, during the day, fish make huge migrations of several kilometers. With the help of special photophores located on the hauliod's body, they can communicate with each other in the dark.

On the dorsal fin of the viper fish there is one large photophore, with which it lures its prey directly to its mouth. After which, with a sharp bite of needle-sharp teeth, the hauliods paralyze the prey, leaving it no chance of salvation. The diet mainly includes small fish and crustaceans. According to unreliable data, some individuals of hauliods can live up to 30 years or more.

2. Long-horned sabertooth (Anoplogaster cornuta)

The long-horned sabertooth is another fearsome deep-sea predatory fish, living in all four oceans. Although the saber tooth looks like a monster, it grows to a very modest size (about 15 centimeters in length). The head of the fish with a large mouth occupies almost half the length of the body.

The long-horned sabertooth got its name due to its long and sharp lower fangs, which are the largest in relation to body length among all fish known to science. The terrifying sight of a saber tooth earned him unofficial name- "fish-monster".

Adults can vary in color from dark brown to black. The younger representatives look completely different. They are light gray in color and have long spines on their heads. The sabertooth is one of the deepest-sea fish in the world; in rare cases, they descend to depths of 5 kilometers or more. The pressure at these depths is enormous, and the water temperature is about zero. There is catastrophically little food here, so these predators hunt for the first thing that gets in their way.

3. Dragonfish (Grammatostomias flagellibarba)

The size of the deep-sea dragon fish absolutely does not fit with its ferocity. These predators, which reach a length of no more than 15 centimeters, can eat prey two or even three times its size. The dragon fish lives in tropical zones The world's oceans at a depth of up to 2000 meters. The fish has a large head and a mouth equipped with many sharp teeth. Like the Howlyod, the dragonfish has its own bait for prey, which is a long whisker with a photophore at the end, located on the fish's chin. The hunting principle is the same as for all deep-sea individuals. Using a photophore, the predator lures the prey to maximum close quarters, and then with a sharp movement inflicts a fatal bite.

4. Deep sea anglerfish (Lophius piscatorius)

The deep-sea anglerfish is rightfully the ugliest fish in existence. There are about 200 species of anglerfish, some of which can grow up to 1.5 meters and weigh 30 kilograms. Because of its creepy appearance and bad character, this fish was nicknamed the monkfish. live deep sea anglerfish everywhere at a depth of 500 to 3000 meters. The fish has a dark brown color, a large flat head with many spines. The devil's huge mouth is strewn with sharp and long teeth, curved inward.

Deep-sea anglerfish have pronounced sexual dimorphism. Females are tens of times larger than males and are predators. Females have a rod with a fluorescent appendage at the end to attract fish. Anglers spend most of their time on seabed, burrowing into sand and silt. Due to its huge mouth, this fish can completely swallow prey that is twice its size. That is, hypothetically, a large individual anglerfish could eat a person; Fortunately, there have never been such cases in history.

5. Bagworm (Saccopharyngiformes)

Probably the most strange inhabitant the depths of the sea can be called a bagmouth or, as it is also called, a pelican-shaped largemouth. Due to its abnormally huge mouth with a bag and a tiny skull in relation to the length of the body, the bagmouth looks more like some kind of alien creature. Some individuals can reach two meters in length.

In fact, bagmouths belong to the class of ray-finned fish, but these monsters do not have too many similarities with the cute fish that live in warm sea backwaters. Scientists believe that appearance These creatures changed many thousands of years ago due to their deep-sea lifestyle. Bagmouths have no gill rays, ribs, scales or fins, and the body is oblong with a luminous appendage on the tail. If not big mouth, then the bagmouth could easily be confused with an eel.

Bagworms live at depths from 2000 to 5000 meters in three world oceans, except the Arctic Ocean. Since there is very little food at such depths, bagmouths have adapted to long breaks in eating, which can last more than one month. These fish feed on crustaceans and other deep-sea brethren, mainly swallowing their prey whole.

6. Giant squid (Architeuthis dux)

The elusive giant squid, known to science as Architeuthis dux, is the world's largest mollusc and is thought to reach a length of 18 meters and weigh half a ton. On this moment A live giant squid has never yet fallen into human hands. Until 2004, there were no documented cases of encountering a living giant squid, and the general idea of ​​these mysterious creatures was formed only from the remains washed ashore or caught in fishermen’s nets. Architeuthis live at depths of up to 1 kilometer in all oceans. In addition to their gigantic size, these creatures have the largest eyes among living creatures (up to 30 centimeters in diameter).

So in 1887, the largest specimen in history, 17.4 meters long, washed up on the shores of New Zealand. In the next century, only two large dead representatives of the giant squid were discovered - 9.2 and 8.6 meters. In 2006, Japanese scientist Tsunami Kubodera managed to capture on camera a living female 7 meters long. natural environment habitat at a depth of 600 meters. The squid was lured to the surface by a small bait squid, but an attempt to bring a live specimen on board the vessel was unsuccessful - the squid died from multiple injuries.

Giant squids are dangerous predators, and their only natural enemy is adult sperm whales. There are at least two described cases of fight between squid and sperm whale. In the first, the sperm whale won, but soon died, suffocated by the giant tentacles of the mollusk. The second battle took place off the coast South Africa, then the giant squid fought with the baby sperm whale, and after an hour and a half fight, he still killed the whale.

7. Giant isopod (Bathynomus giganteus)

The giant isopod, known to science as Bathynomus giganteus, is the largest species of crustacean. The average size deep-sea isopods range from 30 centimeters, but the largest recorded specimen weighed 2 kilograms and was 75 centimeters long. By appearance giant isopods similar to woodlice, and like the giant squid are a consequence of deep-sea gigantism. These crayfish live at a depth of 200 to 2500 meters, preferring to bury themselves in silt.

The body of these creepy creatures is covered with hard plates that act as a shell. In case of danger, crayfish can curl into a ball and become inaccessible to predators. By the way, isopods are also predators and can feast on a few small deep-sea fish and sea ​​cucumbers. Powerful jaws and strong armor make the isopod a dangerous opponent. Although giant crayfish love to feast on live food, they often have to eat the remains of shark prey that fall from upper layers ocean.

8. Latimeria chalumnae

The coelacanth, or coelacanth, is a large deep-sea fish whose discovery in 1938 became one of the most important zoological discoveries of the 20th century. Despite its unattractive appearance, this fish is notable for the fact that for 400 million years it has not changed its appearance and body structure. In fact, this unique relict fish is one of the oldest living creatures on planet Earth, which existed long before the appearance of dinosaurs.

Coelacanth lives at a depth of up to 700 meters in the waters of the Indian Ocean. The length of the fish can reach 1.8 meters and weigh more than 100 kilograms, and the body has a beautiful blue tint. Since coelacanth is very slow, it prefers to hunt great depths where there is no competition with more fast predators. These fish can swim backwards or belly up. Despite the fact that the meat of the coelcanth is inedible, it is often the target of poaching among local residents. Currently ancient fish is in danger of extinction.

9. Goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni)

The deep sea goblin shark, or goblin shark as it is also called, is the most poorly studied shark to date. This species lives in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean at a depth of up to 1300 meters. The largest specimen was 3.8 meters long and weighed about 200 kilograms.

The goblin shark got its name due to its eerie appearance. Mitsekurina has movable jaws that move outward when bitten. The goblin shark was first accidentally caught by fishermen in 1898, and since then 40 more specimens of this fish have been caught.

10. Hell Vampire (Vampyroteuthis infernalis)

Another relict representative of the sea abyss is a one-of-a-kind cephalopod-detritus feeder, which has external resemblance, both with squid and octopus. Yours unusual name the hellish vampire received thanks to the red body and eyes, which, however, depending on the lighting, can be blue color. Despite their terrifying appearance, these strange creatures They grow only up to 30 centimeters and, unlike other cephalopods, they eat exclusively plankton.

The body of the hellish vampire is covered with luminous photophores, which create bright flashes of light that scare away enemies. In case of exceptional danger, these small mollusks turn their tentacles along the body, becoming like a ball with spikes. Hellish vampires live at depths of up to 900 meters, and can thrive in water with an oxygen level of 3% or lower, critical for other animals.

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. Main source nutrients, coming from the upper horizons of the water column - 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, the sedimentation of phytodetritus plays an important 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 (angler fish), camouflage, warning, scaring off or distracting predators (shrimp from the genus Acanthephyra and cuttlefish from the genus Netherotheutis release clouds of luminous liquid as a smoke screen), 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 are red in color, protective function, since the visual organs of deep-sea predators do not perceive red.

Among the large forms living on the bottom, echinoderms, crustaceans, mollusks, 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, the largest number of species of polychaetes, gastropods, bivalves, and cumaceans occurs 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 Para yoldiella 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.