The Earth has 29.2% of its surface made from islands and continents, and the remaining 70.8% is covered with water. There are seven seas around the World: Arctic, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, Indian, and Southern oceans.
As the years go past, people are discovering more and more sea creatures of all sorts. While some of them are known and common, the rest are rarely seen, weird, complex, or even cute. Every sea creature is unique and has its advantages, making the sea world interesting. So far, as a statistic, humans explored only 20% of the oceans, the rest of 80% remaining unknown. Will be the entire ocean explored in our lifetime?
1. Blob Sculpin
The blob sculpin (Psychrolutes phrictus), one of the rarest deep-sea creatures, was first time discovered on the Pacific Coast of the U.S. in the late 1960s but was not scientifically named until 1978. He was observed on the seabed at depths of even 3,000m (9,800ft), his ability to survive is incredible, there are not so many species that can live at a depth where the pressure is 120 times higher than at the surface. His depth-sea alimentation consists of small fish and despite that, it can reach 70cm (28 in) in length.
According to The Ugly Animal Preservation Society, the Blobfish was voted “World’s Ugliest Animal.” His appearance is bizarre because his eyes are big and widely separated, and his head is flattened and fat that’s why this fish is also known as “Fathead.” An interesting fact is that when blob sculpins are underwater their color is grey, and when they are taken out of the water, they become pink, and their face changes due to the pressure difference.
2. Vampire Squid
The Vampire Squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) lives deep in the sea at depths from 600 to 900 meters (2,000 to 3,000 ft) or more, and they are the closest relatives to octopods. The “Vampire squid from Hell” was discovered in 1898-1899 by Carl Chun during an expedition to find if indeed there is life below 550 meters. The Vampire Squid has a spectacular velvety jet-black or pale red color and can reach approximately 30 cm (12in) in length. Despite the name, these creatures don’t suck blood but are pretty good hunters, considering they’re filter feeders.
3. Spotted Wobbegong
The Spotted Wobbegong (Orectolobus maculatus) is a carpet shark in the family Orectolobidae, which is found in the western Pacific Ocean, and the eastern Indian Ocean. This species of shark is large, and robust, typically reaching 150–180 centimeters (59–71 in) in length. Being a shark that lives on the seabed, is flattened with an impressive camouflage, colored green, yellow, and brown, with distinctive O-shaped spots throughout its entire body.
These sharks attacked some scuba divers and swimmers that came close to them but they rarely attack humans.
4. Dumbo Octopus
Grimpoteuthis, known as Dumbo Octopus is a genus of pelagic umbrella octopuses and maybe the cutest sea creature. The name comes from the Disney elephant character, Dumbo, due to their ears, which help them swim. This cute creature lives deep in the Ocean within 3000-4000 meters (10,000-13,000 ft) hovering over the seabed, often even more depth than that.
Dumbo octopuses don’t have an ink sac and how they escape or avoid predators is still unknown. Because umbrella octopuses are naturally rare, females carry eggs in various stages of maturation and can even store sperm inside their bodies for long periods after mating.
5. Glaucus Atlanticus
Also known as the “blue dragon”, Glaucus Atlanticus is a small sea slug. He floats upside down and is carried by currents. Glaucus Atlanticus grows up to 3cm(1.2in) in length and lives a year if it has good conditions.
6. Leafy Sea Dragon
This fish is found on the southern and western coasts of Australia and is related to seahorses. The Leafy Sea Dragon grows up to 20-24cm(8-9.5in) and its name comes from the resemblance to dragons and the fact that they camouflage as seaweed. This species is protected by law because some people captured it and kept it as a pet. If you want to buy one, it costs between 10,000$-15,000$.
7. Sarcastic Fringehead
This funny-looking fish was discovered in 1858 and its advantage is its scary mouth that terrifies the rest of the fish. The Sarcastic Fringehead has aggressive behavior when his territory is violated. When the two of them are fighting, they attack each other with their mouths and it looks like they are kissing. They are brown to gray or with a red tint.
Magnus Kjaergaard / Wikimedia
8. Christmas Tree Worm
If you are looking for a weird but also cute creature, Christmas Tree Worm is the perfect one. Spirobranchus giganteus usually lives on tropical coral reefs at deep of 100ft. Their name comes from the appearance of a Christmas Tree, but the difference is that these are smaller and in several colors. They barely move and they live up to 40 years!
9. Frilled Shark
The Frilled Shark is a living fossil because it has a primitive look alike. They are 2m(6.6ft) long and they have little sharp needle-like teeth. Their diet consists of cephalopods, sea slugs, and smaller sharks. These sharks have six pairs of long gill slits on their throat and they look frightening.
10. Jawfish
There are about 80 species of the Jawfish family. Jawfishs are mostly found in the warmer areas, such as the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, and they are small. They grow up to 10cm(3.9in) and they stand out because of their mouth size. This fish gets sand in its mouth and spits it, to create a tunnel. Jawfish’s lifespan is around 3 to 5 years and has different shades like yellow, blue, green, and others.
11. Peacock Mantis Shrimp
The Peacock Mantis Shrimp is scientifically known as Odontodactylus scyllarus and is one of the most beautiful sea creatures you will ever see. Found in the Indian and Pacific oceans, this shrimp is a candy-colored crustacean and despite its appearance, a mantis shrimp’s punch is strong enough to hurt humans and break an aquarium’s glass wall. It is reported to have the record of the fastest “punch” of any living animal, the acceleration is similar to that of a .22 bullet fired by a handgun (accelerations of over 100,000 m/s2, and speeds of over 20 m/s or 66 ft/s).
12. Pink See-Through Fantasia
The pink see-through fantasia (Enypniastes) is a sea cucumber, found 2,500 meters deep in the Celebes Sea in the western Pacific Ocean. This swimming sea cucumber has been recently discovered, in 2007, and ranges in size from 11 to 25 centimeters (4.3 to 9.8 in). As the name says, you can see through it, only the mouth, anus, and intestines are noticeable. Just like other bioluminescent beings, these species emit light to ward off predators.
13. Frogfish
Frogfishes are found in almost all tropical and subtropical oceans and seas around the world, expecting the Mediterranean Sea and others. One thing that all species of frogfish have in common is their weird walking which resembles the penguin one. They are good disguisers, some of them even look like algae-covered stones or sponges, and that’s what makes them good hunters. Frogfish live generally on the ocean floor around coral or rock reefs, at most to 100 m (330 ft) deep.
14. Ribbon Eel
The ribbon eel (Rhinomuraena quaesita), also known as the leaf-nosed moray eel is found in lagoons and reefs in the Indo-Pacific ocean. While juveniles are jet black with a yellow dorsal fin, as adults their genders can be easily distinguished, adult males are blue and adult females are entirely yellow or yellow with some blue on the posterior.
15. Marrus Orthocanna
Marrus orthocanna is a species of pelagic siphonophore, a colonial animal composed of several zooids linked together by a long stem. A zooid is a single animal that is part of a colonial animal. Its looking resembles a multi-stage rocket that was just launched. It lives in the Arctic Ocean and other cold waters, at depths ranging between 200 and 800m (660 and 2,620 ft) where the temperature is about 4°C (39°F).
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