Deep Sea Creatures of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Published by The Mid Atlantic Ridge is a mountainous region under the sea. This mountainous ridge is host to many creatures never seen before by humans, until recently. Over the past ten years as technology progressed and deep sea exploration grew, we have been discovering new species of sea creatures by the day.
The Jewel Squid
The jewel squid can be found 500 meters beneath the North Atlantic Sea, the pressure at this depth could crush a man and most materials found on land. Its truly remarkable that anything could survive at this depth and the jewel squid is one of them. What is distinctive between these squid and regular squid is that these Jewel Squids have abnormal eyes, one of their eyes are bigger than the other. The left eye is nearly three times the size of the right eye. These eyes are two different lenses the smaller eye is telescopic and the bigger one on the left is used for focus, this allows them to see in the blackened depths of the ocean.
As they swim they swim at a 45 degree angle with the big eye facing upwards and the smaller eye peering down into the depths. Their bodies are covered with little rings on their underside, these rings act as lights to disguise itself from below. They can adjust the lights to suit the dim light from the surface making the squid practically invisible, this acts as perfect camouflage for attacking prey from above.
The Glass Squid
The glass squid was given its name because you could see straight through its body, there are over 60 species of this squid and they all can change colour. Most of them have the bio-luminescent organs just like the Jewel Squid and they use them in the exact same way. The difference between these glass squid and the jewel squid are the transparent bodies and they do not have the abnormal eyes. The glass squid have light organs under their eyes to illuminate their vision in the dark waters. They can mimic any colour they see including black, this gives them the perfect advantage of stalking their prey. Depending on the specie of squid they can grow from anywhere between 10 centimeters to over 3 meters in length.
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On April 30, 2009 at 3:08 am
Good work. Well-written, informative, and nicely illustrated piece.
On April 30, 2009 at 3:30 am
Well written and informative article, lovely photos too.
On April 30, 2009 at 7:32 am
Nice article, with stunning pics.
On April 30, 2009 at 7:40 am
What fantastic creatures. I have never heard of many of them. A great article.
Christine
On April 30, 2009 at 10:20 am
Excellent article!
On April 30, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Great one Stephen. Awesome pictures too!
On April 30, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Bullwinkle sent me to this pg.
A very interesting read w/ wonderful pic choices.
On April 30, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Good show Steve,that Viperfish is one scary looking S.O.B.
On April 30, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Very informative article Richard.
On May 1, 2009 at 2:49 am
that was again another write up. Keep up
On May 1, 2009 at 9:06 am
The giant isopod is creepy. Gave me shivers!!
On May 7, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Oh man, deep sea creatures are awesome. I used to have a book on them when I was a kid. Anything that glows is automatically incredible.
On May 17, 2009 at 1:29 pm
a very well researched article… good job!
On October 26, 2009 at 8:38 pm
that thing was awsome ive heard of the glass squidd and were even getting one at the aquium where i live
On May 3, 2010 at 8:06 pm
it has awsome pics but it still does not tell me the info i need this sucks
On January 10, 2011 at 7:52 am
hello
On January 10, 2011 at 7:55 am
bellend buffer