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Deep sea creatures like the anglerfish look terrifying. Turns out, there’s a reason for that.

Deep sea creatures like the anglerfish look terrifying.

Why Do Deep Sea Creatures Look So Scary?

Deep sea creatures like the anglerfish look terrifying. Turns out, there’s a reason for that.

Deep sea creatures like the anglerfish look terrifying.

Why Do Deep Sea Creatures Look So Scary?Published: January 11, 2016Anna Rothschild: Why do deep sea creatures look like they crawled out of our nightmares? I'm Anna Rothschild, and this is Gross Science.Up near the surface of the ocean, where sunlight trickles down into the water, you see some of the world's most gorgeous marine life, like schools of tropical fish in coral reefs.But once you dove down towards the aphotic zone - deep enough that there's very little sunlight - the environment gets much harsher, putting some unique pressures on the creatures that live there.And that's led to some pretty weird adaptations.For example, food is scarce at the bottom of the sea. Because sunlight doesn't reach down that far, there's no photosynthesis.In other words, there are no organisms taking light and turning it into energy.So almost everything down there is a consumer.Some animals survive by eating "marine snow," which is organic stuff (mostly like dead things and poop) which sinks down from above.Delicious. But others adapt to become vicious predators.Take the female anglerfish. It flies in wait to conserve energy and uses a bioluminescent lure (essentially a spine with a light-producing organ called a photophore at the end) to attract unwitting fish.It has sharp snaggleteeth to make sure prey don't escape, and it can extend its jaws and stomach to swallow prey up to twice its length.That way, if it is lucky enough to find food, it can stock up.There's also massive water pressure when you get down that deep.You've probably heard of the blobfish, which looks like a pile of goo when it's out of water.But this gelatinous, low-density flesh actually helps it stay buoyant, or float, when it's under extreme pressure.Then, there's darkness, which makes it almost impossible to see.Some deep sea creatures have tiny eyes with huge pupils to detect the bioluminescent flashes from predators, prey, or mates.Other animals are virtually blind, like the tripod fish, which has to rely on extra-long, extra-sensitive fins to detect small movements in the water.There's something creepily alien about deep sea creatures, but all their crazy adaptations help them survive in an environment that's really not suited for life as we know it.Oceans cover about 70% of our planet, but only about 5% of them have been explored. So who knows what other weird creatures might be lurking in those depths? Ew.You got a question about deep sea creatures. Let me know in the comments. And for more gross science hits, subscribe.

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Why Do Deep Sea Creatures Look So Scary?

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