The deep-sea remains one of the biggest mysteries on our planet. Sure, we seem to have a lot of books and TV shows about the ocean depths, but the truth is that we've only explored a mere 2% of the ocean floor and there are thousands, if not millions, of unique and exciting species to acquaint ourselves with. Russian fisherman, Roman Fedortsov, knows this all too well.
The trawler worker from port city Murmansk, in the northwest part of Russia, captured on camera some of the weirdest and most wonderful aquatic creatures ever hauled out of the Arctic ocean by his crew - and the results - all posted on Twitter - are monstrous. Take a deep breath and prepare yourselves for nightmarish beasts with bugling eyes, razor-sharp teeth and tar slathered skin. The Little Mermaid told us it's better down where it's wetter, but is that really the case? I think I'll stay on shore after seeing these terrors...
[post_page_title]Macrourus[/post_page_title]
First up on our list of underwater horrors is the macrourus fish. Our Russian fisherman was lucky to have scored one of these as it can only be found at great depths from the Arctic to the Antarctic oceans.
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In case you think you've seen one before, but don't recognize the name, the revolting, yet fascinating, creature also goes by "rattail" or "grenadier". As if it wasn't gross enough, Mother Nature went and put a rat tail on it. Errghh.
[post_page_title]Frilled Shark[/post_page_title]
My whole body wants to run away after looking at this horrifying fish. I'm not sure if the eyes or the teeth freak me out more...
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Never heard of this charming little fish? You're not alone. The frilled shark is incredibly rare and seldom observed by folk on dry land. In fact, the extant species is considered so primitive by the fishing community, that it is often referred to as a "living fossil", the term used for living species or organisms that closely resemble species otherwise only known from the fossil record. In other words, despite how horrifying this odd-l0oking shark appears at first glimpse, it's just like the great-granddad of the ocean who sits in his armchair talking about the old days.
[post_page_title]Lumpsucker[/post_page_title]
Caviar is one of the most expensive foods in the world. But would you really want to eat it after catching a glimpse of the creature it comes from?
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Fancy a lumpsucker on your plate for dinner this evening? Didn't think so. But, believe it or not, you may have already eaten the eggs of one. The lumpsucker, or lumpfish's eggs are often used as a substitute to sturgeon as the key ingredient of caviar. Yum. As their appearance - and how common it is to see them on your plate - lumpfish are poor swimmers and spend most of their time on or near the bottom of the ocean camouflaging themselves in the hopes of not being eaten. It didn't work out so well for this one.
[post_page_title]Chimaera[/post_page_title]
This fish seriously looks as if it's gathered all of the different components from other animals and decided to wear them as its own. On the other hand, it's pretty old, so maybe they stole them.
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The chimaera is a close living relative of the shark, although they branched off from the species 400 million years ago and have continued as lone wolves ever since. You may have noticed that nature seems to have gifted them with some rather impressive emerald green eyes that look like they could x-ray their way through you, this stand-out feature making it a rather easy catch for Roman. But, luckily for the fish, their eyes only glow when exposed to light and appear only as sunken pits in the dark water.
[post_page_title]Unidentified But Terrifying[/post_page_title]
This is possibly the worst thing that Roman found down there. Somehow its transparency makes it all the more petrifying...
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Did you just throw up in your mouth a little bit? Me too. This so-forth unidentified fish swims around with a transparent front, making its grotesque appearance less than pleasant. But, hey, this little guy didn't ask to be dragged up to the surface and put on Twitter. We have only ourselves to blame.
[post_page_title]A Deep Sea Shark[/post_page_title]
I'd be pretty horrified if this guy came sailing straight towards me while I was on a scuba dive. Is anyone else rethinking underwater activities?
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Does this picture make you think that maybe dragons exist outside of the
Game of Thrones universe? This looks to me as if its a little Drogon, Rhaegal or Viserion in the making. But, anyway, this creature is another that no one can seem to identify so far, but what we do know is that it's some sort of shark relation (no matter how much it looks like a dragon). Just think, if we've only explored 2% of the ocean floor, imagine what we could find next!
[post_page_title]Stoplight Loosejaw?[/post_page_title]
The tar black texture steals all of the attention in this picture, but look at its teeth! Tiny, but they look like they could go straight through you!
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These mysterious tar-black creatures have sparked debate around the fishing community with Roman posting on Twitter, "
We’re still arguing about this one. What is it? However, some
social media users have strongly insisted that the specimen in question is a stoplight loosejaw, a deep-sea dragonfish from the genus Malacosteus. It's been guessed that the two creatures, who looks as if they've been slathered in tar, are pitch black in order to avoid capture. Smart.
[post_page_title]This Bug-Eyed Beast[/post_page_title]
Check out the impressive color of this fish. It's not that often that you meet a bright pink fish with eyes bulging out of its head looking like it's about to eat you.
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This bug-eyed beast looks as if it belongs in Vincent Gardenia's
Little Shop Of Horrors. Although, it's startlingly large eyes may be due to the extreme darkness at the bottom of the ocean. Deep sea fish, like all creatures, must adapt to their environment, so many of them develop massive - and extremely sensitive - eyes that are 100 times more powerful than human eyes. Other fish who don't develop these are completely blind and rely on their sense of pressure and smell to get around.
[post_page_title]An Orange Sea Spider[/post_page_title]
Roman wrote on Twitter about this creature: "I hope this isn't poisonous". We hope so too for your sake, Roman. You're one brave man!
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Any mention of spiders and I am out of here. Especially ones that have legs which are longer than Cara Delevingne's. This marine arthropod is slightly more friendly than its fish counterparts but I still wouldn't cross it. There are over 1300 known sea spider species and they often carry poison in their legs, their only defense against attackers.
[post_page_title]Run Away Immediately[/post_page_title]
Wow! What an incredible creature we have here. Imagine getting this one up to dry land, it must have been a bit of a struggle...
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Does anyone else feel like never going into the sea again? Like, literally what would you do if you ran into this one? I'm not that fast of a swimmer and I feel extremely uncomfortable at the thought. Go back to where you came from, please.
[post_page_title]I See You...[/post_page_title]
This little guy seems determined to conceal itself as much as possible. Perhaps it is a common prey for larger and more aggressive creatures.
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Yet another unknown entity of the deep ocean. But this one's a little different as it seems to hide inside its own body to protect itself from passing threats. A very handy trick indeed. Well played, unidentified sea creature.
[post_page_title]What The...[/post_page_title]
If you thought the other deep-sea creatures were weird, you haven't seen nothing yet. Check out this bizarre creature...
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This particular sea creature has bewildered everyone and anyone that comes across it, from its sickly yellow colored body to the orange attachments on its head. So what on earth is it? Watch this space.
[post_page_title]Did Nemo Run Into This Guy?[/post_page_title]
Would I run (or swim as fast as I could) away from this, or would I make it my best friend? Hard to say...
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This little guy almost looks cute (although I'm not so sure if I'd feel that way if I discovered it lurking beneath the surface). It almost looks as though it could pass for a talking animal in a Disney movie!
[post_page_title]Slimy Twins[/post_page_title]
I think you'll all join me in saying "urghhh!' What on earth do we have here...?
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Imagine being hunted by these bad boys. I'm sure I will in my dreams tonight. Yet again, experts are having a little trouble recognizing these two, but the general consensus is that they're pretty slimy and monstrous.
[post_page_title]Tumbleweed Starfish[/post_page_title]
We've all seen starfish on the beach in our time, but I strongly doubt anyone has seen one quite like this...
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Think of this creature next time your foot brushes up against something in the sea! This beauty has been named by people online as a "tumbleweed starfish", yet no one has been able to explain its impressive green and yellow colors.
[post_page_title]Black Scabbardfish[/post_page_title]
I can't even begin to describe to you how fast I would swim away from this absolute terror if I came across it.
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According to Roman, this sharp-teethed horror is a black scabbardfish. Those knife-like gnashers and protruding jaws aren't for nothing as well; the black scabbardfish is very much a deep-sea predator having over 35 different preys in the ocean. It is thought they spend daylight hours around the seabed but swim up to mid-water during darkness to hunt pelagic fish such as mackerel, herring, squid, cuttlefish and prawns.
[post_page_title]A Bright Purple Invertebrate[/post_page_title]
Roman takes a step away from the purely monstrous and focuses on the truly beautiful in this incredible snap...
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The Russian fisherman commented marveling at this invertebrate's "beautiful" purple color. Thank god we finally have something we can admire and not run away from!
[post_page_title]Sea Urchin[/post_page_title]
You might not want to eat it, but the people in the Philippines definitely do. Scroll down to check it out.
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This sea urchin confused and terrified most online viewers, with many crying out "What is that!" As much as you can cry out on the internet anyway. But Instragram user Mary Ann was more than happy to help them out helpfully posting "This is sea urchin! we call it salawaki here in the Philippines and we eat them".
[post_page_title]Space Chimaera[/post_page_title]
We've already seen a chimaera once on our list, but social media users have picked this chimaera out as special, claiming that it looks like it belongs in space...
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...And can you really disagree with them? With its shiny bright purple skin and alien eyes, it does kind of seem like it could exist in deep space, not deep water!
[post_page_title]A Baby Chimaera[/post_page_title]
Like I said earlier, not all of Roman's finds are downright terrifying, many of them are just a little strange...
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This small, grey creature with the lengthy tail, said to be a baby chimaera, divided social media users, with many of them gushing over how cute it was, but others claiming that it was a monster.
[post_page_title]The Edward Norton Of Fight Fish Club?[/post_page_title]
The first rule of FightFish Club is: you do not talk about FightFish Club. The second rule of FightFish Club is: you DO NOT talk about FightFish Club! Third rule of FightFish Club: someone yells "stop!", goes limp, taps out, the fight is over.
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This fish appears to be one of Roman's favorites with the Russian fisher writing "The first rule of Fight Fish club is You do not talk about Fight Fish club" underneath its picture on Twitter and Instagram. We're sure even
Brad Pitt and Edward Norton would run from this.
[post_page_title]Nessie Is That You?[/post_page_title]
With its scaly pink skin and grotesque bulging blue and yellow eyeballs, you could be mistaken for thinking that this deep-sea creature has slipped out of one of George R.R. Martin's books.
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Despite being the person who managed to catch the bug-eyed creature, Roman agrees with our hypothesis posting this underneath the picture on Twitter, "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters. Another."
[post_page_title]Eeep[/post_page_title]
Is it me or does this look like a fish ate a human and the human is screaming but can never escape no matter how loud he or she squeals?
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I mean, no deep-sea creature should ever have teeth like that right? Social media users strongly agree with me on this one, with many claiming that it belongs in the next sequel to the movie
Alien and some even insisting that the picture is a joke and can't possibly be real.
[post_page_title]An Evolved Stingray?[/post_page_title]
What on earth is this?! Do you think it looks harmless or would you not want to come across it on the beach?
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Although it shares certain features with the stingray, that still doesn't explain the rest of its body. Despite many Instagram users insisting that it's unconventionally cute, others still weren't sold on the idea, instead claiming that it looks like it belongs in a horror movie.
[post_page_title]A Giant Sperm Fish?[/post_page_title]
Roman posted this horrific picture with gleeful joy saying, "Good morning! It's Monday."...
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...Trust me Roman, that is the
last thing any of us want to see on a Monday morning. Speculation was rife on social media that it may be a giant sperm fish or an eel, but this creature's identity has yet to be confirmed.
[post_page_title]Redfish[/post_page_title]
Based on his comments about this fish, we think Roman seems to be getting a little too used to creatures lurking in the deep-sea...
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He posted the words "Redfish, only redfish" with this photo as if trying to brush off the fact that its mouth looks like it could swallow a child whole!
[post_page_title]The Cheshire Cat[/post_page_title]
Roman named this beast himself with a shout-out to classic tale Alice In Wonderland...
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The traveling fisherman wrote "Cheshire Cat. My Sea Edition" underneath the photo, mocking the creatures massive grin and referring the children's favorite. Others joined in on the joke in the comments with jules1a posting "Say cheese!!"
[post_page_title]The Final Straw[/post_page_title]
That's it. I'm never going underwater again. Look at the size of this creature compared to its human counterpart. Simply humungous!
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That's it. I am out of here. But, in all seriousness, as grotesque and strange as they are, these pictures only show us the immensity of nature. There are millions of small wonders living at the bottom of the ocean that we are yet to discover and it is our responsibility to help preserve these unique phenomenons to the best of our ability, even if they do scare the living daylights out of us.
