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Deep Sea Creatures

My sister asked me to post something about those bizarre fishes that live in the bottom of the ocean and here I am, posting something interesting about those not well-known and unique fishes.
They live in the abyssal zone, abyss is from the Greek word meaning bottomless sea. At depths of 4,000 to 6,000 meters, this zone remains in perpetual darkness and never receives daylight
Food is not easy in these zones, their diet consists mainly of detritus (decaying organic material) drifting down from the lighted layers above and other fishes. Though the deep sea fish tend to look fierce, most, but not all, are quite
small. Their fierce appearance comes from adaptations that allow them to eat
anything that comes their way in the sparsely populated waters.
Deep sea organisms are often small, gelatinous and bioluminescent.

Here is an example:



The Fish on the picture is the Angler Fish, the "fishing rod" growing from the female anglerfish's snout ends in a glowing blob of light. At the tip of this modified fin ray, is a small organ (esca) that contains millions of light-producing bacteria.
If you wish to learn more about it, Click Here!




This is the Dinner Plate Jelly. This jelly feeds by swimming slowly with its tentacles stretched out. When animals bump into the tentacles, stinging cells fire and hold on. Depending on the size of the prey, it can take a jelly up to two hours to move food from its tentacles to its stomach.


This one is the Giant Red Mysid. This large mysid has an armored shell equipped with spikes to deter hungry predators. Its brilliant red color provides a clue to life in the midwater: red appears black in the dim blue-green light of the midwater, so this bright red animal is actually camouflaged.


That fish is the Fangtooth. One look at a fangtooth and it’s easy to see how this fish got its name: like many deep sea fishes, a fangtooth has large, sharp teeth for capturing food that comes on its way.


That small crab is the Spiny King Crab. Spiny king crabs prowl the deep seafloor for live food, eating other crabs and sea stars. But when they can’t find fresh food, they’re quick to lunch on leftover scraps or dead animals that fall from above.


Well, that one is the Pacific Viperfish. In the dark, other fish can’t see the viperfish’s fanglike teeth—its mouth becomes an unseen trap.


This is one of my favorites, the Deep Sea Glass Squid. This species has light organs on its eyes and possesses the ability to roll into a ball, like an aquatic hedgehog.



At last, this fish rocks, it really looks like a dragon. The Deep Sea Dragonfish, It has a large head and mouth equipped with many sharp, fang-like teeth. The dragonfish has a long barbel attached to its chin. This barbel is tipped with a light-producing organ known as a photophore. The dragonfish uses this organ like a fishing lure, flashing it on and off and waving it back and forth. Once an unsuspecting fish gets too close, it is snapped up in the dragonfish's powerful jaws.

Thanks To: >Monterey Bay Aquarium

1 comments:

Thx bro!
That was a very interesting post, u actually covered everything I wanted to know in an objective way.
I love the sea.
I look forward to reading other sea posts.
XXX

Saturday, July 28, 2007 at 6:28:00 AM PDT  

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