Strange And Bizarre Sea Animals

Our planet's oceans cover approximately 71% of the Earth's surface and according to oceanographers, only about 5% of their waters have been explored. In other words, we only have a small idea of what's going on down there.

Despite exploring only a very small part of them, researchers and scientists have discovered some animals that are truly bizarre. Some of them are weird in a bad, frightening way. Some are so weird that they seem like they came from another planet. And some are just that. Weird.

From this hub, I will share with you images and videos of some of the strangest sea creatures. The hub is on-growing, and I will update it from time to time with new animals. So make sure to bookmark and visit it every now and then!

Suggestions are always welcome, so don't hesitate to comment if you have a strange sea animal to recommend!

Giant isopods live in the cold and deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean. They can be found in all three major oceans, in depths ranging from 200 to 2200 meters.They are scavengers, consuming dead animals that fall on the oceanic floor, like whales and squids.

As indicated by their name, they are the biggest species of isopod and can grow to be at least 76 cm long, almost as big as a small dog! Considering that isopods are usually 1-5 cm long, we can say that they grow big, really really BIG!

Despite their frightening appearance, they pose no threat to humans. They do bite, but the bite is small and harmless.

Also known as the striped dumpling squid and scientifically described as Sepioloidea lineolata, this cute little creature reaches an average length of only 5 cm.

Obviously, its common name is an attribute to its pyjama-like appearance. Their small and round body also resembles a dumpling and thus their second common name.

Found throughout the waters of Australia, at depths of about 20 m, the species spends most of its life buried in the sandy sea floor, hiding its presence from predators and unsuspecting prey.

There is only one word that can describe these cute little creatures. Cute ! Yellow boxfish can be found in reefs throughout the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean, as well as the south eastern Atlantic Ocean.

Their body is cube like and they can reach a maximum length of 40 cm. Their bright yellow color and black spots is actually a warning coloration that the fish is poisonous if consumed.

The hideous goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) is by far the world's most strange shark, featuring all kinds of weird and un-shark traits. For example, it is the only pink shark out there.

But what's even more bizarre about it, is its distinctive and protrusible jaw that comes out, much like the mouth of the Alien from the... Alien franchise.

This frightening creature has a worldwide distribution, although sightings are more common in Japan. Don't worry about coming across one anytime soon, unless you commonly dive at 500 m or deeper!

Bigfin squids (also known as Long-arm squids), are a poorly understood and rarely seen group of cephalopods of the Magnapinnidae family. As of today, researchers have yet to catch an adult specimen. We only have video footage, like the one you see on the right

We know very few things about them, from just a handful of immature specimens that have ever been caught. As you can see on the video, they have a really frightening appearance, reminiscent of the aliens from the Independence Day film.

Estimations made from videos taken by remotely operated vehicles and other submersibles, place their maximum length to at least 8 meters. Scary!

The red lipped batfish is a really strange looking species of fish.

Obviously, its named this way due to its bright red lips, that are seemingly covered with lipstick! These guys can be found on the sandy bottoms of the Galapagos Islands, at depths ranging from 30 to 50 meters.

An interesting fact about them is that they are very bad swimmers. Their fins have evolved in such a manner, that they actually prefer to "walk" or "sit" on the sea bottom, instead of swimming or floating.

This alien looking creature is actually a squid, scientifically known as Promachoteuthis Sulcus. There is still no common name for the species, but some call it the squid the human like mouth, for obvious reasons. But does it really have a set of dentures? Perhaps the teeth are something else? Click here to find the truth!

The King of herrings is the world's longest known bony fish and is also known as the giant oarfish.

Amazingly, this terrifying creature can reach a length of at least 17 metres and a weight of up to 300 kg! It occurs in depths of 300-1000 meters and rarely appears to surface. Most reports comes from dead animals that were washed ashore. Many attribute sea serpents legends to appearances of this animal.

Don't be frightened by its looks and size. The giant oarfish has no visible teeth and only eats small crustaceans and zooplankton!

This alien-like, transparent creature is actually a squid, of the Cranchiidae family. Sightings are very rare and we know very little about it.

It is a blue, transparent organism with an average length of about 20 cm and has notably large eyes. Females tend to be slightly larger than males. It has has eight short tentacles and a slightly longer pair at the end of its rather swollen body.

The spotted handfish (Brachionichthys hirsutus) is a rare and critically endangered fish, found exclusively in the waters of south-eastern Australia. It is a relatively small fish, with an average length of about 10 cm. It iusually inhabits depths ranging from 5 to 10 m.

This bizarre animal is best known for its modified, hand-like fins that allow it to "walk" in the sea bottom. The species actually prefers walking to swimming !

The Chambered Nautilus is the largest and most researched species of nautilus. It is considered to be a living fossil since it has remained unchanged for the past 600 million years!

It lives in tropical waters, that extend from the Andaman Sea east to Fiji and from southern Japan to the Great Barrier Reef. They are scavengers feeding on dead crabs, fish and shrimps.

Blanket Octopus is the common name used for 4 distinct octopuses species of the Tremoctopus genus. Females of all species grow to be at least 2 meters long whereas males have a maximum length of only 2.5 cm (1 in.)!! This phenomenon is known as extreme sexual dimorphism.

These strange animals don't produce ink. Instead, when under threat, females unfurl their large net-like membranes which spread out and billow in the water, greatly increasing their size.

Narwhals are a strange species of whale that lives in the Arctic. Male narwhals have a long and straight tusk extending from their upper left jaw. This tusk is 2 meters in length. There are even some reported cases of narwhals having 2 tusks!

The role of their tusks has yet to be identified, however researchers speculate that it is used to attract females or for breaking the ice. Possibly, many myths originate from these strange but beautiful animals. According to historians, it was a common practice in medieval times, for traders to sell narwhal tusks as "unicorn tasks" !

The yeti lobster is a weird animal that was discovered only a few years ago in 2005,in the South Pacific Ocean. The yeti crab is also known as "yeti lobster" and "furry lobster".

It has pincers that are covered with sinuous, hair-like strands that resemble fur. The yeti lobster blind and exclusively found in great depths (2.000 m or more) on hydrothermal vents.

The Ocean Sunfish - also known as Mola - is the world's heaviest bony fish. These beautiful animals have an average weight of one ton and and average length of about 1.8 meters..

They are usually found in open waters, swimming either alone or some times in pairs. They have been reported to live to be up to ten years old in captivity, however their lifespan in their natural habitat has yet to been determined.

They mainly feed on large quantities of jellyfish. Despite their big size they pose no threat to humans, with only minor injuries reported, due to their heavy weight.

The tongue eating louse is probably the world's most strange parasite. The main host for this parasite is the Spotted Rose Snapper. This parasite actually "replaces" the host's tongue with.. itself!!!

After entering to the body through the gills, it attaches itself to the tongue. It feeds from the tongue and slowly but steadily replaces. The poor fish doesn't die. It just gets a new, tongue! Unless you are a fish, you have no reason to worry!

The giant grenadier is a very large, strange and scary looking ratail fish. It is the only known member of the Albatrossia genus.

This fish lives at the benthopelagic level in the midnight zone with its habitat covering the north Pacific, from northern Japan to the Okhotsk and Bering seas, east to the Gulf of Alaska, and south to northern Baja California located in Mexico.

As aforementioned, the hub will constantly be updated with more and more strange sea animals so please consider visiting it from time to time! If you enjoyed reading it, please give it a thumbs up, subscribe, and share it with your friends !

In the meantime, you may want to check these links:

• World's Most Strange Animals Animals List: Αnother hub of mine, containing more than 20 weird animals.
• Strangeanimals.info: Site featuring many strange and weird animals and other organisms