In maritime and ocean depths there are a huge number of all kinds of creatures that amaze with their sophisticated defense mechanisms, the ability to adapt, and, of course, their appearance. This is a whole universe that has not yet been fully explored. In this rating, we have collected the most unusual representatives of the depths, from beautifully colored fish to creepy monsters.

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Opens our ranking of the most unusual inhabitants deep, dangerous and at the same time amazing lion fish, also known as striped lionfish or zebra fish. This cute creature, about 30 centimeters long, spends most of its time among the corals in a motionless state, and only from time to time swims from one place to another. Thanks to its beautiful and unusual coloring, as well as long fan-shaped pectoral and dorsal fins, this fish attracts the attention of both people and marine life.

However, behind the beauty of the color and shape of its fins are hidden sharp and poisonous needles, with which it protects itself from enemies. The lion fish itself does not attack first, but if a person accidentally touches it or steps on it, then one prick from such a needle will cause his health to deteriorate sharply. If there are several injections, the person will need outside help to swim to shore, as the pain can become unbearable and lead to loss of consciousness.

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This is a small marine bony fish of the family pipefish order Acicularis. Seahorses lead a sedentary lifestyle; they attach their flexible tails to stems, and thanks to numerous spines, outgrowths on the body and iridescent colors, they completely blend into the background. This is how they protect themselves from predators and camouflage themselves while hunting for food. Skates feed on small crustaceans and shrimp. The tubular stigma acts like a pipette - the prey is drawn into the mouth along with water.

The body of seahorses in water is located unconventionally for fish - vertically or diagonally. The reason for this is the relatively large swim bladder, most of which is located in the upper part of the body seahorse. The difference between seahorses and other species is that their offspring are carried by the male. On its abdomen it has a special brood chamber in the form of a sac, which plays the role of a uterus. Seahorses are very fertile animals, and the number of embryos borne in a male’s pouch ranges from 2 to several thousand. Childbirth for a male is often painful and can result in death.

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This representative of the depths is a relative of the previous participant in the rating - the seahorse. Foliar sea ​​dragon, rag picker or sea pegasus is an unusual fish, so named for its fantastic appearance - translucent delicate greenish fins cover its body and constantly sway from the movement of water. Although these processes look like fins, they do not take part in swimming, but serve only for camouflage. The length of this creature reaches 35 centimeters, and it lives in only one place - off the southern coast of Australia. The rag picker swims slowly, its maximum speed is up to 150 m/h. Just like seahorses, the offspring are carried by males in a special pouch formed during spawning along the lower surface of the tail. The female lays eggs in this pouch and all care of the offspring falls on the father.

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The frilled shark is a species of shark that looks much more like a strange one. sea ​​snake or eel. From the very Jurassic, the frilled predator has not changed at all over millions of years of existence. It got its name from the presence of a formation on its body brown, resembling a cape. It is also called the corrugated shark due to the numerous folds of skin on its body. Such peculiar folds on its skin, according to scientists, are a reserve of body volume to accommodate large prey in the stomach.

After all, the frilled shark swallows its prey mainly whole, since the needle-like tips of its teeth curved inside the mouth are not capable of crushing and grinding food. The frilled shark lives in the bottom layer of water in all oceans except the Arctic Ocean, at a depth of 400-1200 meters; it is a typical deep-sea predator. The frilled shark can reach 2 meters in length, but the usual sizes are smaller - 1.5 meters for females and 1.3 meters for males. This species lays eggs: the female gives birth to 3-12 young. Gestation of embryos can last up to two years.

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This type of crustacean from the infraorder of crabs is one of the largest representatives of arthropods: large individuals reach 20 kilograms, 45 centimeters in carapace length and 4 m in the span of the first pair of legs. Lives mainly in Pacific Ocean off the coast of Japan at a depth of 50 to 300 meters. It feeds on shellfish and leftovers and is believed to live up to 100 years. The survival rate among the larvae is very small, so females spawn more than 1.5 million of them. During the process of evolution, the front two legs turned into large claws that can reach a length of 40 centimeters. Despite this formidable weapon, the Japanese spider crab is non-aggressive and has a calm nature. It is even used in aquariums as an ornamental animal.

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These large deep-sea crayfish can grow more than 50 cm in length. The largest recorded specimen weighed 1.7 kilograms and was 76 centimeters long. Their body is covered with hard plates that are softly connected to each other. This type of armor provides good mobility, so giant isopods can curl up into a ball when they sense danger. Rigid plates reliably protect the crayfish’s body from deep-sea predators. Quite often they are found in Blackpool, England, and they are not uncommon in other places on the planet. These animals live at depths from 170 to 2,500 m. Most of the entire population prefers to be kept at a depth of 360-750 meters.

They prefer to live alone on the clay bottom. Isopods are carnivorous and can hunt for slow-moving prey at the bottom - sea ​​cucumbers, sponges, and possibly small fish. They also do not disdain carrion, which sinks to the seabed from the surface. Because the food is so great depth not always enough, and finding it in pitch darkness is not an easy task, isopods have adapted long time do without food at all. It is known for sure that cancer is capable of fasting for 8 weeks in a row.

9

The purple tremoctopus or blanket octopus is a very unusual octopus. Although, octopuses in general strange creatures- they have three hearts, poisonous saliva, the ability to change the color and texture of their skin, and their tentacles are able to perform certain actions without instructions from the brain. However, the purple tremoctopus is the strangest of them all. For starters, we can say that the female is 40,000 times heavier than the male! The male is only 2.4 centimeters long and lives almost like plankton, while the female reaches 2 m in length. When the female is frightened, she can expand the cape-like membrane located between the tentacles, which visually increases her size and makes her look even more dangerous. It is also interesting that the blanket octopus is immune to jellyfish venom Portuguese man of war; Moreover, the intelligent octopus sometimes tears off the jellyfish's tentacles and uses them as weapons.

8

The blobfish is a deep-sea bottom-dwelling marine fish of the psycholute family, which, due to its unattractive appearance, is often called one of the most scary fish on the planet. These fish supposedly live at depths of 600-1200 m off the coast of Australia and Tasmania, where they are found lately Fishermen began to increasingly reach the surface, which is why this species of fish is endangered. The blobfish consists of a gelatinous mass with a density slightly less than the density of water itself. This allows the blobfish to swim at such depths without expending large quantities.

Lack of muscles is not a problem for this fish. She swallows almost everything edible that floats in front of her, lazily opening her mouth. It feeds mainly on mollusks and crustaceans. Even though the blobfish is not edible, it is endangered. Fishermen, in turn, sell this fish as a souvenir. Blobfish populations are recovering slowly. It takes 4.5 to 14 years for the blobfish population to double.

7 Sea urchin

Sea urchins are very ancient animals of the echinoderm class that inhabited the Earth already 500 million years ago. On at the moment About 940 modern species of sea urchins are known. The body size of a sea urchin varies from 2 to 30 centimeters and is covered with rows of calcareous plates that form a dense shell. Based on body shape, sea urchins are divided into regular and irregular. Regular hedgehogs have an almost round body shape. U wrong hedgehogs The body shape is flattened, and the anterior and posterior ends of the body are distinguishable. Spines of various lengths are movably connected to the shell of sea urchins. The length ranges from 2 millimeters to 30 centimeters. Spines often serve sea urchins for movement, nutrition, and protection.

Some species that are distributed mainly in tropical and subtropical regions of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans have poisonous needles. Sea urchins are bottom crawling or burrowing animals that usually live at a depth of about 7 meters and are widespread on coral reefs. Sometimes some individuals can crawl onto. Correct sea urchins prefer rocky surfaces; incorrect - soft and sandy soil. Hedgehogs reach sexual maturity in the third year of life, and live about 10-15 years, up to a maximum of 35.

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Largemouth lives in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans at depths from 500 to 3000 meters. The body of the largemouth is long and narrow, in appearance it resembles an eel 60 cm, sometimes up to 1 meter. Due to the giant stretching mouth, reminiscent of the beak bag of a pelican, it has a second name - pelican fish. The length of the mouth is almost 1/3 of the total body length, the rest is thin body, passing into the caudal filament, at the end of which there is a luminous organ. The largemouth does not have scales, a swim bladder, ribs, an anal fin or a full-fledged bone skeleton.

Their skeleton consists of several deformed bones and light cartilage. Therefore, these fish are quite light. They have a tiny skull and small eyes. Due to poorly developed fins, these fish cannot swim quickly. Due to the size of its mouth, this fish is capable of swallowing prey that is larger than itself. The swallowed victim ends up in the stomach, which can stretch to enormous sizes. The pelican fish feeds on other deep-sea fish and crustaceans that can be found at such depths.

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The sac-eater or black eater is a deep-sea representative of perciformes from the suborder chiasmodidae, living at a depth of 700 to 3000 meters. This fish grows up to 30 centimeters in length and is found throughout tropical and subtropical waters. This fish got its name from its ability to swallow prey several times its size. This is possible due to the very elastic stomach and the absence of ribs. A bagworm can easily swallow fish 4 times longer and 10 times heavier than its body.

This fish has very large jaws, and on each of them the front three teeth form sharp fangs, with which it holds the victim when it pushes it into its stomach. As the prey decomposes, a lot of gas is released inside the bagworm's stomach, which brings the fish to the surface, where some black gobblers have been found with swollen bellies. It is not possible to observe the animal in its natural habitat, so very little is known about its life.

4

This lizard-headed creature belongs to the deep-sea lizard-heads that live in the tropical and subtropical seas of the world, at depths from 600 to 3500 meters. Its length reaches 50-65 centimeters. Outwardly, it is very reminiscent of long-extinct dinosaurs in a reduced form. It is considered the deepest sea predator, devouring everything that comes in its way. Bathysaurus even has teeth on its tongue. At such a depth, it is quite difficult for this predator to find a mate, but this is not a problem for it, since the bathysaurus is a hermaphrodite, that is, it has both male and female sexual characteristics.

3

The smallmouth macropinna, or barrel eye, is a species of deep-sea fish, the only representative of the genus macropinna, which belongs to the order Smeltfish. These amazing fish have a transparent head through which they can watch their prey with their tubular eyes. It was discovered in 1939, and lives at a depth of 500 to 800 meters, and therefore has not been well studied. Pisces in normal environment habitats are usually motionless, or move slowly in a horizontal position.

Previously, the principle of operation of the eyes was not clear, since the fish’s olfactory organs are located above the mouth, and the eyes are located inside the transparent head and can only look up. Green The eyes of this fish are caused by the presence of a specific yellow pigment in them. It is believed that this pigment provides special filtering of light coming from above and reduces its brightness, allowing the fish to discern the bioluminescence of potential prey.

In 2009, scientists found that thanks to special structure eye muscles, these fish are able to move their cylindrical eyes from the vertical position in which they are usually located, to the horizontal position when they are directed forward. In this case, the mouth is in the field of view, which provides an opportunity to capture prey. Zooplankton of various sizes, including small cnidarians and crustaceans, as well as siphonophore tentacles along with cnidocytes were found in the macropinna vein. Taking this into account, we can come to the conclusion that the continuous transparent membrane above the eyes of this species evolved evolutionarily as a way of protecting cnidarians from cnidocytes.

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The first place in our ranking of the most unusual inhabitants of the depths was taken by a deep-sea monster called an anglerfish or devil fish. These are scary and unusual fish They live at great depths, from 1500 to 3000 meters. They are characterized by a spherical, laterally flattened body shape and the presence of a “fishing rod” in females. The skin is black or dark brown, naked; in several species it is covered with transformed scales - spines and plaques; ventral fins are absent. There are 11 known families, including almost 120 species.

The anglerfish is a predatory sea fish. Hunt other residents under water world he is helped by a special growth on his back - one feather from dorsal fin during evolution, it separated from the others, and a transparent sac formed at its end. In this sac, which is actually a gland with liquid, surprisingly, there are bacteria. They may or may not glow, obeying their master in this matter. The anglerfish regulates the luminosity of bacteria by dilating or constricting blood vessels. Some members of the anglerfish family adapt even more sophisticatedly, acquiring a folding fishing rod or growing one right in their mouth, while others have glowing teeth.

Lobsters they really feel pain when they are thrown into boiling water. However, immersing them in water before cooking salt water, you can give them anesthesia.

Starfish- the only animal that can turn its stomach inside out. When it approaches its prey (usually representatives of mollusks), the star sticks its stomach out through its mouth and covers the victim’s shell with it. It then slowly digests the fleshy parts of the mollusk outside its body.

Newborn barnacle balanus(barnacle) is similar to daphnia (water flea). It is also called sea acorn or sea tulip. At the next stage of development, it has three eyes and twelve legs. In the third stage of development, it has twenty-four legs and no eyes. Balanuses attach to a solid object and remain there for life.

When abalone shellfish feed on red algae, their shell turns red. A 10 cm long abalone can hold onto a rock so tightly that two strong man they won't be able to tear it off.

Sea worms paired as follows: in mating season females and males gather in a swarm. Suddenly, the females pounce on the males and bite off their tails. The tails contain sperm. When swallowed, it moves along digestive tract and fertilizes the female's eggs.

Snails They mate only once in their lives. Mating can last up to twelve hours.

When mating leech, performing the function of a male (leeches are hermaphrodites and can perform the role of any gender), clings to the female’s body and places a sac with sperm on her skin. This sac secretes a powerful, tissue-destroying enzyme that eats a hole in her body and fertilizes the eggs inside her.

Leeches belong to the class of animals. They are considered long-lived because... can live more than 20 years. Leeches can survive without food for a very long time for a long time– up to two (!) years. After every meal they grow right before our eyes.

Leeches are very clean and live only in the cleanest bodies of water on the planet, especially in ecologically clean places. Unfortunately, due to atmospheric pollution, leeches are becoming fewer and fewer every year. As a result of this, the leech was listed in the Red Book and is now protected by law. Those leeches that are bred in captivity are much worse at treating various diseases, unlike their fellow leeches that live in the wild. Therefore, it is more effective to use special wild leeches for treatment.

Breath of a jellyfish very different from the breath of a person or even a fish. The jellyfish does not have lungs or gills, or indeed any other respiratory organ. The walls of its gelatinous body and tentacles are so thin that oxygen molecules freely penetrate through the jelly-like “skin” straight into internal organs. Thus, the jellyfish breathes over the entire surface of its body.

Farmers in the Caribbean use the venom of a certain species of jellyfish as a poison for rats.

Beautiful but deadly Australian sea ​​wasp (Chironex fleckeri) – the most poisonous jellyfish in the world. Since 1880, 66 people have died from its heart-paralytic poison near the Queensland coast, in the absence of medical care victims died within 1-5 minutes. One of effective means protection are women's tights. Queensland lifeguards now wear oversized tights while surfing

Crabs live off the coast of Japan heikegani, the pattern on the shell of which resembles the face of an angry samurai. According to science popularizer Carl Sagan, this species owes its appearance to unintentional artificial selection. Many generations of Japanese fishermen, catching such crabs, released them back into the sea, as they considered them to be reincarnations of samurai killed in battle. By doing this, the fishermen increased the heikegani's chances of reproducing and increasing their numbers among other crabs.

Male crabs have one claw that is significantly larger than the other. These crabs got their name because they seem to call females to them by moving this claw. Males of one of the species of crab Uca mjobergi let's go further - if they lose a large claw in a fight with another male, then they grow it back larger size, although significantly weaker. However, for females its appearance becomes more significant, and other males are afraid to engage in battle with the owner of such a claw.

New look large squid was discovered by scientists in Indian Ocean in 2009. Representatives of this species reach a length of 70 cm. They belong to the family Chiroteuthid– deep-sea squid with a long narrow body.

Deep sea tunicates- some of the strangest prehistoric animals. They are found when the ice in Antarctica breaks up. These meter-long worms are considered the first life forms to colonize the bottom of the Antarctic ocean.

Barreleye Fish– the fish can rotate its eyes in all directions, and since the fish’s head is transparent, it can also try to see its brain, if it has one (the black dots above the mouth are not eyes, the eyes are green hemispheres in the head).

Needlefish hunts in a completely unique way: it approaches the prey, often hiding behind other fish, and with lightning speed sucks it into its long “beak”. In terms of its characteristics, the needle fish is very similar to the seahorse.

For centuries, scientists, starting with the Greek philosopher Aristotle, have tried to understand how eels reproduce. Today it is known that it lays eggs in the Sargasso Sea, between Bermuda and the Caribbean islands. Small larvae travel many thousands of kilometers to return to the rivers where their parents come from.

It's not just stingrays that have electrical organs. African river body catfish malapterurus wrapped, like a fur coat, in a gelatinous layer in which electric current. Electrical organs account for about a quarter of the weight of the entire catfish. Its discharge voltage reaches 360 V, it is dangerous even for humans and, of course, fatal for fish.

A type of starfish called Lunckia columbiae can reproduce its entire body from a particle 1 centimeter long.

Amazing, unlike anything else, sea animals live underwater. All the largest, strongest and most poisonous animals also live in the abyss of the ocean, and not on land.

Giant spider crab

This is one of the largest representatives of arthropods: large individuals reach 3 m in the span of the first pair of legs!

Pygmy seahorse

This is one of the most well-camouflaged inhabitants of the ocean. It takes a lot of effort to see this tiny creature measuring 2.5 cm among the dense thickets of coral.

Squid on the hunt

Usually squids are up to 50 cm in size, but there are also giant squid, which reach 20 meters (counting tentacles). They are the largest invertebrates.

A couple of stingrays

Stingrays are fish, and most of them live in sea ​​water. Special weapons endowed with a squad of electric stingrays that can paralyze prey with electrical discharges from 60 to 230 volts and over 30 amperes. Photograph from the Tuamotu group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, belonging to French Polynesia.

Gastropod- flamingo tongue

Found on many coral reefs in the Caribbean and Atlantic basins. The mollusk feeds on poisonous sea gorgonians, but their poison does not harm the snail. "Flamingo's tongue" absorbs toxic substances and he himself becomes poisonous. These mollusks leave behind noticeable trails of dead coral tissue.

Eel catfish

The only species of catfish that lives on coral reefs. They have the first rays of the anterior dorsal and pectoral fins They are jagged, poisonous spines.

Conger eel

Peeking out of his hole.

Fish and sea sponge

Currently, about 8,000 species of sponges have been described. They are animals.

Underwater laboratory "Aquarius"

The only operating laboratory in the world, located at a depth of 20 meters underwater off the coast of Florida.

Humboldt squid

Giant squid or Humboldt squid. These carnivorous predators reach a length of 2 meters and weigh more than 45 kilograms.

Crab and sea urchins

The body of sea urchins is usually almost spherical, measuring from 2 to 30 cm, and the length of the spines ranges from 2 mm to 30 ms. Some species of sea urchins have poisonous spines.

Shrimp and crab

Almost perfect underwater camouflage.

Nudibranch

Komodo National Park in Indonesia. Nudibranchs lack a shell. They are one of the most brightly colored and variegated marine invertebrates.

Body fish family

They feed sea ​​urchins, starfish, crabs, shellfish, deftly blowing them out of the ground with a stream of water released from the mouth.

Lipped perches

Schools of these fish move through the ocean as a unit to protect themselves from predators.

Bell fish

This inhabitant of coral reefs is truly unique fish, reaching 80 cm in length. She does not swim most of the time, but spends it in an upright position, hanging upside down. In a similar way, it disguises itself as a stick, protecting itself from predators and waiting for prey.

Colony of ascidians and sticky fish

Ascidians are a class of sac-shaped animals with a length from 0.1 mm to 30 cm, distributed in all seas. Sticky fish usually stick to big fish, whales, sea ​​turtles, the bottoms of ships.

Red starfish

The sizes of these brightly colored animals range from 2 cm to 1 meter, although most are 12–25 cm. Starfish are inactive and have from 5 to 50 rays or arms. These animals are predators.

Big white shark

Reaching a length of over 6 meters and a mass of 2,300 kg, the great white shark is the largest modern predatory fish.

Magnificent mantis crab (harlequin)

One of the largest mantis shrimp. It is about 14 cm in length, and the largest individuals measure up to 18 cm.

Aquatic inhabitants are amazing animals that have subjugated the stormy seas and majestic oceans. Inhabitants aquatic environment represent a colorful and numerous world, including aquarium fish. They are all so different. Some of them are simply huge, while others are so small that they are almost invisible. Some aquatic inhabitants are fierce predators that pose a great threat, while some, on the contrary, are friendly and do not pose a threat.

Everyone has been to a dolphinarium or aquarium. But everyone who is represented there is the inhabitants of endless expanses, living in harsh conditions water element. Below you will find articles about the diverse inhabitants of the aquatic world, in which you will learn a lot of new and interesting things about them.

The great blue whale is the giant of planet Earth. Description and photo of a blue whale

The blue whale or blue whale is a marine animal that is a member of the cetacean order. The blue whale belongs to the baleen whales of the genus minke whales. The blue whale is the most big whale on the planet. In this article you will find a description and photo blue whale, you will learn a lot of new and interesting things about the life of this huge and amazing animal.

The seahorse is an incredible creature. Description and photo of the seahorse

The seahorse is a small fish, which is a representative of the Spine family from the order Stickleback. Research has shown that the seahorse is a highly modified pipefish. Today the seahorse is pretty rare creature. In this article you will find a description and photo of a seahorse and learn a lot of new and interesting things about this extraordinary creature.

An amazing world opens up to everyone who dares to look deep under the water. Californian David Robel, a biologist and photographer rolled into one, set out to find amazing deep sea creatures: beautiful and monstrous. His reward was amazing photographs of ocean inhabitants.

1. Long-horned sabertooth
If we think logically, then all the saber-toothed inhabitants of the planets should have disappeared long ago. This does not seem to apply to fish. This fish, only 15 centimeters long, has a serious weapon - 7-centimeter teeth. So that they can fit in the body of the owner of such a “treasure,” the sinuses for the teeth go into the skull and, which seems absolutely incredible, divide the fish’s brain into two parts.

2 Brown Cat Shark Embryo
The brown cat shark is not very common among researchers and fishermen. Therefore, it has been little studied. An adult shark behaves predominantly night image life and never lives in pairs or flocks, and therefore almost never gets caught on spinning reels. Scientists suggest that this species of shark easily picks up the electrical impulses of other creatures and is highly sensitive to magnetic fields.

3. Cycloton
This fish is doomed to swim with the current all its life, because it does not have enough strength to move independently of it. The only thing that a fish can do is swim up and down within the current. The fish feeds on plankton.

4. Long-horned sabertooth
Malek of this predatory fish with a monstrous appearance, he looks very cute and harmless. Well, the fish itself, thanks to its teeth, equal in size to half the fish itself, looks terrifying and is considered a serious predator. The saber tooth feeds on other fish and shellfish.

5. Piglet squid
This cute creature brings a smile to everyone who sees it. The small squid is shaped like a small pig, its tentacles give the creature a mischievous look - it seems like it has an outlandish hairstyle. And it complements the touching spectacle... Smile. Of course, the squid does not smile, but the pigmentation on its body is located in such a way that its shape resembles a real smile.

6. Carnivorous copepod
Copepods are an absolutely amazing creature - scientists suggest that their DNA is arranged in a special way. Because crustaceans are constantly changing. Not a single creature on our planet is capable of such rapid “evolution.”

7. Hatchetfish
This small fish is not only different unusual shape, thanks to which it received its name, but also because it creates lighting for itself. The thing is that these fish spend most of their time at great depths, where they do not penetrate at all. sunlight. Therefore, the fish’s body has special organs that are located on the sides of the body and glow. The brighter the light, the darker the space surrounding the fish. This helps to find food.

8. Giant ostracod
This creature belongs to crustaceans. But, besides the shell, he has special antennas that help him move. If an ostracod is in danger, it closes its shell and falls to the bottom, where it lies motionless for a long time and waits until the enemies leave or the fishing gear disappears.

9. Atlantic idiot
Idiokant lives in tropical zone. Surprisingly, the photophores of the fish, which illuminate its path, occupy a third of the body. And the fish larva is so original in shape that for a long time it was classified as another type of fish.

10. Crankhiid
This creature can safely be called one of the best chemists among the inhabitants of the sea. This squid has a special sac in which a substance accumulates that significantly increases its buoyancy - ammonium chloride.

11. Gonatid
Gonatids are classified as cephalopods. This unusual creature lives in deep waters Pacific Ocean. Majority cephalopods They live from several months to two years and reproduce only once in their life, and then die.

12. Atoll
Scientists consider the atoll to be a “cunning” jellyfish. When she is in danger, she begins to glow very brightly. Presumably, a predator should appear in the bright light and destroy the danger threatening the jellyfish itself. Unusually, its light can be seen at a distance of about 90 kilometers.

13. Black-bodied blowmouth
Like many others deep sea fish, the pufferfish has photophores that allow it to see at great depths. These fish can live at a depth of two or even four kilometers. At night they usually float to the upper layers of the water.

14. Histioteuthio
Histioteuthio belongs to a mysterious and not fully studied family - the octopuses. This variety of octopus is distinguished by its “leopard” color.

15. Light-finned wallbill
Another unusual deep-sea fish. It got its name (at least part of the name) thanks to its gentle appearance. Its fins almost appear translucent. And their delicate-looking flexible structure is associated with the delicate feathers of a strange bird. That’s why they called the fish light-finned.

16. Periphylla
Medusa Periphylla is a very colorful sight. Bright and at the same time tender, she cannot but evoke surprise and admiration. In Norway, many photographers and diving enthusiasts come specifically to special centers, where they organize a periphylla safari - at night the jellyfish rises close to the surface of the water and can be easily found and photographed. This kind of safari is very popular among both locals and tourists.

17. California smoothhead
This fish is often mistakenly called the Talisman, although it is from a completely different family. What is really remarkable is the age of the fish. Smoothhead is a long-lived fish. According to scientists, the maximum age to which these fish live is approximately 38 years.

18. Polar ptychogastria
Polar psychogastria got its name for a reason. It immediately becomes clear that its habitat is cold polar waters, which at first glance are poorly adapted for life. It seems that life is impossible both in the waters of cold seas and oceans and near them. However, many species of living beings have proven that cold water for someone it will be a wonderful home. This amazing jellyfish, similar to a predatory flower, is a clear confirmation of this.

19. Smoothhead
Another specimen of an amazing fish - a long-liver, only now a different variety. This fish lives in the cold waters of the northern part Atlantic Ocean. It feeds on jellyfish and shrimp. It lives surprisingly long for a fish, but its size usually does not exceed one meter.

20. Sculpted polycheles
An amazing creature that lives in the dark waters of the ocean at great depths. Its bright color and frightening appearance distinguish it from deep-sea creatures, which do not very often boast of their beauty - rather, their unusualness and menacingness. The lateral spines serve as excellent protection for polycheles, which got its name due to its structure - due to the abundance of limb processes, it was dubbed polyheles.

21. Pacific howlyod
At first glance, it seems that this fish has not changed since the times when mammoths and dinosaurs walked the earth. She has a very prehistoric and menacing appearance. This fish is found in the Pacific Ocean, and some of its varieties are found in the Mediterranean Sea. Despite its frightening appearance, the fish is small - about 35 centimeters. Hauliod – predatory fish, and is not afraid to hunt even fairly large crustaceans, which form the basis of its diet.

22. Pacific howlyod
During the day, the hauliod lives at the bottom of sea and ocean spaces, and at night it rises to the upper layers of water in search of prey. The fish uses its photophores not only for illumination, but also as a way of communicating with other fish of its species.