Black Medusa

Cigar Comb Jelly

beroe forskalii

The Cigar Comb Jelly is a gelatinous ctenophore that is marveled by many due to its sparkling bioluminescence. It tends to elegantly float around 120 m in the ocean. It uses unique, hair-like structures called ctens to move horizontally in the ocean. It also swims in a spiral pattern before consuming zooplankton in the ocean.

Photo credit: https://www.wrobelphoto.com/gelatinouszooplankton/h25347306

https://www.flickr.com/photos/a_migotto/27227530815

Black- eyed squid

Gonatus onyx

The Black-eyed Squid is roughly over one foot (35 am) and is found at depths as deep as 2500m. The female Black-eyed Squid works fiercely to protect her babies, by carrying around a patch of egg for six to nine months. When the eggs hatch, 2000 to 3000 babies are released into the ocean. However, this makes her vulnerable to predators. 

Photocredit: http://tolweb.org/Gonatus+onyx/19769

Deep Sea Arrow Worm

Eukrohnia hamata

Arrow worms are small, predatory marine worms that consume copepods, ostracods, and larvae. They resembles a clear, ink pen whizzing through the dark sea. Furthermore, they are found primarily in the Artic Ocean between 700m to 1200m. The picture on the bottom is its head. They have 8 hooks, which are used to grab prey and 25 posterior teeth. Even though the arrow worms are terrifying up close, they are only 4.5 cm in size.

Photo credit:   http://www.arcodiv.org/watercolumn/chaetognaths/Eukrohnia_hamata.html

Scaly Dragonfish

Stomias Boa

The Scaly Dragonfish is about 32cm long and found at depths between 200 to 1500m. The long purple barbel on its chin is used to lure in prey. When the pery gets close enough, it swings its jaws forward swallowing the prey whole.

Photo credit: https://alchetron.com/Stomias

Video on the fish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=69&v=9oB_61aI2iQ&feature=emb_title

Psychedelic Medusa 

Crossota millsae

The Psychedelic Medusa is a deep-sea hydrozoan that is abundant in the North Pacific. The mini-jelly is found at depths between 1000m to 3800m, and are often observed drifting near the ocean floor. It also has an eccentric reproduction behavior uncommon in cnidarians. The females display viviparity, and carry the babies in her bell until they are ready to hatch.   

Photo credit: http://www.arcodiv.org/watercolumn/cnidarian/Crossota_millsae.html

https://twitter.com/spothvegr/status/1030177493075079169

Giant Bell Jelly

Scrippsia pacifica

The Giant Belly Jelly has 256 tentacles attached to a gelatinous bell-shaped base. Like most cnidarians, the Giant Belly Jelly uses specialized stinging cells called nematocysts to catch its prey. When fish and other prey swim into its tentacles, the sensory projection on the cnidocyte (cell that holds the nematocysts) is activated. Then the nematocysts and barb are released, hitting the vulnerable prey and releasing a toxin into the prey’s body. The Giant Bell Jelly is found at 400 m in the ocean. It is related to the jellyfish, but it is categorized as a Hydrozoa (similar to the Portuguese- man-o-war)

https://vimeo.com/42551565

Photo Credit: https://www.pinterest.cl/pin/467107792572034837/

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/ivytech-bio1-1/chapter/phylum-cnidaria/

Helmet Jelly

Periphylla periphylla

The Helmet Jelly can be found at all depths of the ocean. This vibrant and strange jellyfish tends to proliferate in Norwegian fjords. They are one of the dominant predators in these isolated ecosystems. 

Photos

http://www.seawater.no/fauna/cnidaria/periphylla.html

https://www.bigfishexpeditions.com/2019/01/24/norway-deepwater-shark-diving-2018/helmet-jelly/

Wake up babe new fish dropped

Glass Octopus

Vitreledonella richardi

The Glass Octopus spend its entire life in the midwater section of the ocean and found at depths between 200m to 2000m. Even though it has no protection from predators, it achieves perfect transparency. The only part of the Glass Octopus that is visible is its digestive gland. However, the digestive gland is placed vertically to minimize detection. In addition, I find this octopus to be super cute!

Photo credit: https://www.mynumer.com/forums/topic/499/invisible-animals/view/post_id/859

Pigbutt worm

Chaetopterus pugaporcinus

The Pigbutt worm or the flying buttocks of the sea is spotted floating between 965 m to 1300 m in the deep ocean. It is actually a polychaete (polly-keet) worm species that burrows in the ground as an adult, and floats around the ocean as a baby. The worm feeds itself : by creating a balloon of mucus; collecting particles on the mucus; and then consuming the particles. It is the rarest and thickest worm in the deep ocean, for only ten have been spotted.  

Photocredit: https://roaring.earth/pigbutt-worm/