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The Mystery of the Bottom: Strange Creatures Found in Salt Water

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Have you ever pondered what lays beneath the surface of the water? The most amazing creatures are hidden in the deep blue! 

The Mystery of the Bottom: Strange Creatures Found in Salt Water

Should you wish to explore some of them, the following article will provide you with an overview.

1. Bioluminescent Octopus

When you watch the movie Avatar, you will be surprised by the pinkish creatures which look like fancy light bulbs illuminating in the dark. In the movie they are known as Pandoran flora. However, these creatures are not from fiction. They are quite real and the movie gets the idea from actual creatures living in the oceans. These creatures have developed the ability to create their own light and this technique is known as bioluminescence.

The Mystery of the Bottom: Strange Creatures Found in Salt Water

Like the creatures in the Avatar movie, this bioluminescent octopus glows with its own lights proving that Pandoran flora are real. This glowing ability exists to attract its prey. There are only a few bioluminescent octopus found half a mile deep in the Gulf of Maine.

There are ample strange deep sea creatures, which are the subject of scientific research and documentaries, such as the one below.


2. Goblin Shark

We live in an atmosphere having temperatures below 40 °C though summers are exceptional. However, underneath the deep sea, there are hydrothermal vents that are more than 100 °C temperature. These hydrothermal vents are fissures in the planet's surface and are commonly found near volcanic areas. Surprisingly enough, there are organisms living there. There are crabs, lobsters, different types of worms and some other creatures living near the hydrothermal vents. Sometimes the liquid coming from these hydrothermal vents reaches temperatures between 100 °C to 400 °C. 

Biology underneath the sea has always been an untold mystery. Part of the mystery is about to be revealed. Do you remember the scary looking fish in fresh waters in South American rivers? Maybe you are confused. But, if I say the word ‘Piranha,’ you would be like ‘oh… yes!’ Thus, there are many other strange creatures in the sea which look at least as scary as piranha.

The Mystery of the Bottom: Strange Creatures Found in Salt Water

Goblin sharks dwell in the deep sea and has scary looking sharp teeth. Though it looks scary, it does not cause any harm to humans because it feeds on bottom-feeding fish. It is known as a living fossil since the goblin shark is the only representative of its family. 

3. Humpback Anglerfish 

Humpback anglerfish is another scary looking fish with sharp teeth.

The Mystery of the Bottom: Strange Creatures Found in Salt Water

It is a deep water fish found in tropical and temperate oceans. 

4. Fangtooth

Fangtooth fish also looks scary because of its teeth.

The Mystery of the Bottom: Strange Creatures Found in Salt Water

The fangtooths are found in tropical and cold-temperate water and they do no harm to humans.

5. Christmas Tree Worm

Apart from all the scary looking strange creatures in sea, there are also fancy and beautiful strangers found in the ocean. The Christmas Tree Worm is one such beautiful creature found at Great Barrier Reef’s Lizard Island.

The Mystery of the Bottom: Strange Creatures Found in Salt Water

These worms use spiral branches as their breathing and feeding apparatus. Amazingly enough, the worm lives in a tube kind of thing and it withdraws like a tree when it is under attack or feels threatened.

6. Marrus Orthocanna 

Another weird creature is the Marrus Orthocanna which looks like a swimming rocket. This creature is microscopic and it is made up of multiple repeated units. It has multiple stomachs and tentacles.

The Mystery of the Bottom: Strange Creatures Found in Salt Water

These strange creatures are also known as physonect siphonophore and look like jellyfish. They are found in the North Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Arctic Ocean, North West Pacific Ocean, and so on.

7. Sea Pig

Sea pig is another strange creature found in the ocean. These creatures live at the bottom of deep oceans and are commonly found in the abyssal plain in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Ocean. Typically they live at depths over 1000 meters.

The Mystery of the Bottom: Strange Creatures Found in Salt Water

They mostly find their food by digging deep-sea mud. Deep sea trawling holds a threat for sea pigs.

8. Harp Sponge

Harp sponge is also a fancy looking stranger found in sea water. This is a carnivorous deep sea sponge discovered deep down in the California coast.

The Mystery of the Bottom: Strange Creatures Found in Salt Water

Sponges eat bacteria and filter other microscopic organisms from the surrounding water.

9. Vampire Squids

Vampire squids are also found in temperate and tropical oceans.

The Mystery of the Bottom: Strange Creatures Found in Salt Water

These creatures are very small and they have retractile filaments that helps them to be given their name.

10. Red Lipped Batfish

One reason of existence for these strange sea creatures is evolution. Evolution allows diversity of creatures as they evolve with continued strength and progress. Darwin, whose name is linked with the theory of evolution, is also connected to the Galapagos Islands. Darwin wrote the book “The Origin of Species” after he visited Galapagos. One strange sea creature from the Galapagos Islands is the red lipped batfish, also known as Galapagos batfish.

The Mystery of the Bottom: Strange Creatures Found in Salt Water

Interestingly enough, the red lipped batfish actually has red lips. They are not good swimmers, so they walk on the ocean floor. These creatures feed on small fish, shrimps, and mollusks. They are found in depths of 3 to 76 meters in the oceans of the Galapagos Islands.

11. Blue Glaucus 

Blue glaucus is another gorgeous creature found in the deep sea. They are sea slugs and they are found in temperate and tropical oceans throughout the world.

The Mystery of the Bottom: Strange Creatures Found in Salt Water

Usually beautiful and colorful organisms indicate that they have stored toxins inside them, for instance blue glaucus have toxins inside them which they store to use for their own protection. 

Conclusion

In summary, there are many different types of strange creatures under the blue blanket. Some are pretty, making their own light and illuminate. Beautiful creatures like the aforementioned in this article can attract predators easily as they are so visible. On the other hand, some sea creatures look scary but do not harm humans. Some others look so weird you think they are the result of science fiction films. We have only listed a few from the strange sea creatures found at the bottom of the sea. It is profoundly evident that there are numerous more out there worth exploring! 


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*by andreascy*


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