Top 10 Strangest Deep Sea Animals

Pitch black. Bone-crushing pressure. Freezing cold. Welcome to the deep sea — Earth’s weirdest, wildest frontier. Down here, life gets strange. Think weird looking jellyfish. See-through heads. Giant mouths. Ready to dive in? Here are 10 bizarre deep sea creatures.

1. Angler fish

These fish are among the most famous animals of the deep sea. They get their name from the glowing dorsal fin on their heads, which contains bioluminescent bacteria. As finding food is so difficult in the deep sea, all anglerfish need to do is pop their fin out and the food comes to them!

2. Pom-Pom Anemone

Rather than other anemones which simply have a crown of tentacles, the pom-pom anemone more resembles its namesake, with a dense gathering of tentacles. The move from spot to spot, rolling into a cylinder and letting deep-sea currents blow them across the sea floor, before using their muscles to grip in place.

3. Japanese Spider Crab

These crustaceans are one of the world’s largest living crab species! The main body of the crab is usually around 30cm across at maturation. Its legs continue to grow throughout its life, sometimes reaching as claw-span of 3.8 metres!

4. Sea Pig

 Sea Pigs are a type of sea cucumber, which scurry across the sea floor to find food. They have longer tube feet compared to other sea cucumbers and use them to stay above the soft mud of the deep-sea floor. They also sometimes give rides to juvenile king crabs, and scientists are still unsure why they do this.

5. Chambered Nautilus

These animals are a cousin to the octopus and have been around for about 480 million years. The chambers in their shell develop as they age, starting with 7 or 8 and growing up to 30 chambers at maturation.

6. Dinner Plate Jellyfish

This jellydish is one of the mid-ocean's top predators - they have been known to eat over 21 different species of gelatinous prey (jellyfish, comb jellies, etc). Their tentavles have microsocpic harpoon-like spurs that latch onto prety and draw them in to feast upon.

7. Common Siphonophore

Siphonophores are delicate creatures made up of segmented, specialised sections. The larger piece at the front pulls the rest of the sections alon, which include segments for feeding, defence, and reprouction.

8. Warty Deep-Sea Octopus

These Octopi are very dedicated parents. Due to the cold temperatures of the deep-sea, Octopus mothers brood their young for a very long time, sometimes up to 4.5 years! As time goes on, the mother's health deteriorates, until her eggs have hatched and she passes away.

9. Spiny Starfish

These sea stars get their name from the spiky tendrils on their arms. When looking for food, they wrap their arms around their prey and hold on tight. They then release their stomachs from their mouths to feed.

10. Glass Squid

Glass Squids are cephalopods, like octopi and squids. Like others in this family, they hold their skin picment in little saces aacross the skin's surface (chromatophores) and they often keep their sacs closed so their skin is basically see through. This helps to hide them from other animals.

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