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Vampire Squid
It lives in Monterey Bay and is called the vampire squid (and it appears to deserve the name). What else do you need to know?
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Leafy Seadragon
Found along the southwestern coast of Australia, the leafy seadragon, Phycodurus eques, uses its fins not only to propel it through the water, but as camouflage to resemble a piece of drifting seaweed.
Fathead
Scientists call this fish Psychrolutes microporos, but also, more directly, "Fathead.
Vigtorniella Worm
What do you get when a whale dies at sea? (It's not a joke or riddle.) You get a feast, if you're a polychaete worm like this newly discovered Vigtorniella found a about a half mile down on the floor of Sagami Bay, Japan.
Arctic Hydromedusa
This hydromedusa, Bathykorus bouilloni, is common in the deep waters of the Arctic, about 3,300-feet deep. No one knew it, until robotic submarines investigated, though.
Lysianassoid Amphipod
One of many new amphipods discovered by the Marine Census of Life, this Lysianassoid amphipod inhabits the waters near Elephant Island in the Antarctic. Like other tiny crustaceans, amphipods are a big source of food for larger creatures of the deep. See more bizarre Antarctic sea creatures.
Metapseudes
This potentially new species of Metapseudes was found in abundance among the coral rubble at Ningaloo, Western Australia. What is it, exactly? Well, it's an arthropod, meaning it's somewhat related to insects, crustaceans, spiders, scorpions, and centipedes. Of course, that's not saying much, since there are more arthropod species on Earth than all other phyla combined.
Napolean Wrasse
You can't really beat the description of this creature from the Census of Marine Life: "Exceeding two meters in length, the Napoleon Wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) is one of the largest reef fish found in the warm waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans. The intricate bluegreen design that decorates the face resembles New Zealand Maori war paint, which is the root of its alternative name, the Maori Wrasse. The designs are also unique to each individual, much like fingerprints. A protogynous hermaphrodite, this wrasse can change its sex from female to male."
Sea Nettles
The image of swarms of sea nettles like these Chrysaora fuscescens in Monterey Bay, California, is so intense that they've been bred for aquariums. They do have a sting, though it's rarely a health risk for human
The Squidworm
Found in the Celebes Sea, this worm is, well ... this worm seems confused. Scientists call it a squidworm. (No, not Squidward.)
Sea Angel
We wouldn't be surprised to find that sea angels are in the same family as, say, the mythological Sirens. They're called angels, but are actually a predatory sea snail. This particular specimen, Platybrachium antarcticum, "flies through the deep Antarctic waters hunting the shelled pteropods (another type of snail) on which it feeds," according to the Marine Census of Life.
Acantharians Amoeba
The acantharians are one of the four types of large amoebae that occur in marine open waters. "Large" in this case is relative, as this microscopic creature is have skeletons made of a single crystal of strontium sulfate that quickly dissolves in the ocean water after the cell dies. Together with other microscopic organisms, though, amoebas like this account for most of the biomass on Earth
Marrus Orthocanna
Like a multi-stage rocket, this bizarre microscopic creature, Marrus orthocanna is made up of multiple repeated units, including tentacles and multiple stomachs. Never heard of a physonect siphonophore? That's what this is. It's something like a jellyfish, and is more closely related to the Portugese man o'war. One interesting thing about it: Like ants, a colony made up of many individuals has attributes resembling a single organism.
Munnopis Isopod
A virus? An alien? Nope. It's a Munnopsis isopod crustacean, and even scientists haven't figured out more than that about this deep Southern Ocean denizen, yet. Isopods are ancient creatures (they've been on Earth, in one form or another, for 300 million years or so). They have seven pairs of legs and on land, you might be familiar with their cousins, the pill bugs. Nothing on land (and little in water) looks like this guy, though
Armored Snail
There's no other snail in the world armored like the Crysomallon squamiferum, which was found over a hydrothermal vent deep in the Indian Ocean. The multilayered structure of the shell is called "unlike any other known natural or synthetic engineered armor
Bioluminescent Octopus
One of the few known octopods known to be bioluminescent (glow with its own light) this Stauroteuthis syrtensis octopus was found about a half mile deep in the Gulf of Maine. Photophores (light-emitting organs) may be positioned to fool prey into swimming right into the mouth of the hunter