The wide expanse of sea surface has not yet been fully explored by oceanographers and sea-oriented biologists devoting mostly on the sea’s wide ecosystem. In fact, new species of sea surface creatures are continuously being discovered, such as the last year’s National Geographic’s discovery – the square jaw fish from the Celebes seas and the Aequorea wire jellygish underneath the same seas. Meanwhile, the most bothering subject is the undiscovered creatures living beneath the 16,500 feet or 5000 meters ocean depth.

During the course of many under-the-sea explorations, different creatures from the deep seas have been discovered. Surprisingly, the looks and characteristics of these creatures are greatly different and unique compared to the existing surface sea creatures

Stargazers

Top-mounted eyes, scaleless and tough skin, venomous spines, fanged teeth and pectoral fins that can cause electric shocks are only some of the bizarre characteristics of this Giant Stargazer (Kathetostoma giganteum) commonly found in the seas of New Zealand. From the perciform family of Uranoscopidae, stargazers usually burry themselves in the sand while waiting for an opportunity of ambushing their preys. Stargazer can be found within the oceanic depths of 60 to 600 meters, and usually grow with a length of more than 90 cm

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Giant grenadiers

Featured in the famous movie, Titanic (1997) – where the fish are glimpsed during ROV reconnaissance of the wreck, is the monstrous Giant Grenadiers or rattails (Albatrossia pectoralis). A grenadier has a rat-like tail and huge head and facial features. This creature possesses different combinations of receptors that are commonly found individually from different species of the sea. These are chemoreceptors for detecting the acidity levels of the water, photophores – the light-producing organs, and hydrophones for mating and hunting purposes.

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Handfishes

Aside from their hand-like fins, handfishes are considered remarkable due to their skin covered with tooth-like scales called denticles, which are responsible for their warty anglers. Denticle is commonly present among cartilaginous fishes, such as sharks. Early Greeks thought of these creatures as demigods of the seas due to their hand-like fins and spotted skin.

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Ogrefish

The deep sea Fangtooth or Ogrefish is an ungly-looking beryciform fish from the family of Anoplogastridae. Fangtooths are commonly found in the tropical waters of the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean. Its unique physical features are its disproportionately large fangs, huge jaws, mucus-covered skin and spineless fins. Fortunately, this creature is a small-sized fish capable of growing only up to 16 cm or 6 inches. Based on the current deep sea ecosystem records, ogrefish is one of the deepest-living fishes found as deep as 5,000 meters.

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Chimaeras

Ghost sharks, rabbit fishes and rat fish are some of the names attributed to this cartilaginous fish commonly called Chimaera. This fish lives in the temperate ocean floors or the pacific seas. The unique features of Chimaera are its venomous spine present in its dorsal fin, shark-like claspers for internal fertilization and leathery cases to contain their eggs. Chimaera uses its weird hunting tactic by burying into the sands the creating a metal detector-like atmosphere that detects electrical impulses.

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Pelican eel

Similar to the actual Pelican bird, this eel possesses an enormous mouth larger than its body. It usually swallows preys that are larger than itself. One amazing feature aside from its mouth is its stretchable stomach that expands to accommodate its large meals. Furthermore, it has a whip-like tail with a luminous end used for attracting its preys. 

A squid found inside the Pelican eel’s mouth.

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Viperfish

The monstrous-looking fish is known as the viperfish. It has its unique needle-like teeth used for stinging its prey. Viperfish is one of the deep-sea living fishes found at approximately 3,000 meters deep. Unlike Fangtooths, Viperfish can grow to lengths of 30 to 60 cm or 12 to 24 inches. Little information is available for this type of fish due to its deep ocean habitat and rarity.

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Colossal squid

The famous giant squid in the classic fairy tales and sea-legends is indeed alive in the identity of the Antarctic or Giant Cranch Squid commonly known as the Colossal squid. According to the current records, colossal squid can grow to its maximum length of 12 to 14 meters making it the largest known invertebrate. Unlike the tentacles of a normal squid, colossal squid’s tentacles possess three-pointed sharp hooks instead of suckers. The last notable feature of colossal squid is its eyes, which is the largest documented in the animal kingdom.

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Ocean sunfish

Also called as Mola Mola, ocean sunfish is considered as the heaviest bony fish in the world. It can grow up to the weight of 1 ton, and a length of 3.2 meters in height and 3.3 meters in length. The sunfish way of eating is by spitting out its food and then pulling it in again through its small mouth to tear apart soft-bodied prey.

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Barbeled dragonfish

From the rare and small family of Stomiidae, barbeled dragonfish is a rare serpent-like fish that usually lives deeper than 4,000 meters of the Arctic waters. Barbeled dragnfish is known for its sharp and non-proportionate fangs. Interestingly, dragonfishes produce larvae with eyes on the end of long stalks and intestines that occur outside the body. Furthermore, its thin and fragile skin is covered with gelatinous membrane that is supplied with blood and nutrients from within the body. It can eats preys larger that its physical size without even damaging its fragile tissues.

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Dare to swim them?