The sea, which most people associate with summer vacations and great times on a sandy beach under the scorching sun, is the source of most of the unsolved mysteries kept in uncharted depths.
The existence of life under water
Swimming, having fun and enjoying the sea during the holidays, people do not know what is close to them. And there, in the zone of deep impenetrable darkness, where not a single sunbeam reaches, where there are no acceptable conditions for the existence of any organisms, there is a deep-sea world.
First Deep Sea Explorations
The first naturalist who ventured into the abyss in order to check whether there are inhabitants of the deep sea was William Beebe, an American zoologist who specially assembled an expedition to study the unknown world off the Bahamas. Diving to the bottom in a bathyscaphe to a depth of 790 meters, the scientist discovered a wide variety of living organisms. The monsters of the deep sea - imposing fish of all colors of the rainbow with hundreds of paws and sparkling teeth - lit up with sparks and flashesimpenetrable water.
Research of this fearless man made it possible to break the myths about the impossibility of life at the bottom due to the lack of light and the presence of the highest pressure, which does not allow the presence of any organisms. The truth lies in the fact that deep-sea inhabitants, adapting to the environment, create their own pressure similar to the external one. The existing fat layer helps these organisms swim freely at great depths (up to 11 kilometers). Eternal darkness adapts such unusual creatures for itself: the eyes that they do not need there are replaced by baroreceptors - special organs of touch and smell that allow you to instantly respond to the slightest changes around.
Fantastic images of sea monsters
Deep-sea monsters have a frighteningly ugly appearance, associated with fantastic images captured in the paintings of the most daring artists. Huge mouths, sharp teeth, lack of eyes, external coloration - all this is so unusual that it seems unreal, invented. In fact, the inhabitants of the deep sea are forced to simply adapt to the whims of the environment in order to survive.
After a lot of research, scientists came to the conclusion that even today on the seabed there can be the most ancient forms of life, hidden at great depths from ongoing evolutionary processes. To this day, you can find spiders the size of a plate and jellyfish with 6-meter tentacles.
Megalodon Monster Shark
Great interest is megalodon - a prehistoric animal of enormous size. The weight of this monster is up to 100 tons with a 30-meter length. The two-meter mouth of the monster is littered with several rows of 18-centimeter teeth (there are 276 in total), sharp as a razor.
The life of an amazing inhabitant of the deep sea terrifies marine animals, none of which is able to resist his power. The remains of triangular teeth that deep-sea monsters had are found in rocks in almost all corners of the planet, which indicates their wide distribution. At the beginning of the 20th century, Australian fishermen met with a megalodon in the sea, which confirms the version of its existence today.
Anglerfish or Monkfish
The rarest deep-sea animal of ugly appearance lives in s alty waters - monkfish (angler fish), first discovered in 1891. In place of the missing scales on his body are ugly bumps and growths, and swaying tatters of skin, reminiscent of algae, hang around his mouth. Due to the dark coloration that gives nondescriptness, the giant head studded with spikes and the huge mouth gap, this deep-sea animal is rightfully considered the ugliest animal on planet Earth.
Several rows of sharp teeth and a long fleshy appendage sticking out of the head and serving as bait, pose a real threat to fish. Enticing the victim with the light of a “fishing rod” equipped with a special gland, the angler lures it to the very mouth, forcing it to swim inside of its own free will. Distinguished by incredible gluttony, these amazing inhabitants of the deep sea can attack prey many times larger than them. If the outcome is unsuccessful, both die: the victim - from wounds, the aggressor - from being suffocated.
Interesting Facts About Anglerfish Breeding
The fact of reproduction of these fish causes interest: the male, when meeting with a girlfriend, bites into her teeth, growing to the gill cover. Connecting to someone else's circulatory system and feeding on the juices of the female, the male actually becomes one with her, losing the jaws, intestines, and eyes that have become unnecessary. The main function of the attached fish during this period is the production of sperm. Several males can be attached to one female, several times smaller than her in size and weight, which, in the event of the death of the latter, die with her. Being a commercial fish, monkfish is considered a delicacy. The French especially appreciate its meat.
Great squid - mesonichtevis
Of the most famous molluscs of the planet, living at great depths, mesonichtevis strikes with its size - a colossal squid with a streamlined body shape that allows it to move at great speed. The eye of this monster of the deep sea is considered the largest on the planet, reaching a diameter of 60 centimeters. The first description of a huge inhabitant of the seabed, the existence of which people did not even suspect, is found in documents from 1925. They tell about the discovery by fishermen of a 1.5-meter squid tentacle in the stomach of a sperm whale. In 2010, a representative of this group of molluscsweighing more than 100 kg and about 4 meters long was thrown off the coast of Japan. Scientists suggest that adults reach 5 meters in size and weigh about 200 kilograms.
It was previously believed that the squid is able to destroy its enemy - the sperm whale - by holding it under water. In reality, the threat to the prey of the mollusk is its tentacles, with which it penetrates the victim's blowhole. A feature of the squid is its ability to exist for a long time without food, so the lifestyle of the latter is sedentary, involving disguise and quiet pastime while waiting for the unfortunate victim.
Amazing sea dragon
The leafy sea dragon (rag-picker, sea pegasus) stands out with its fantastic appearance in the thickness of s alty waters. The translucent fins of a greenish tint, covering the body and serving to mask unusual fish, resemble colorful plumage and constantly sway from the movement of water.
Inhabited only off the coast of Australia, the rag-picker reaches a length of 35 centimeters. He swims very slowly, with a maximum speed of up to 150 m / h, which is in the hands of any predator. The life of an amazing inhabitant of the deep sea consists of many dangerous situations in which one’s own appearance is salvation: clinging to plants, a leafy sea dragon merges with them and becomes completely invisible. The offspring is carried by the male in a special bag in which the female lays her eggs. These inhabitantsthe depths of the sea for children are especially interesting because of their unusual appearance.
Giant isopod
In the sea, among the many unusual creatures, such inhabitants of the deep sea as isopods (crayfish of giant size) stand out for their size, reaching a length of up to 1.5 m and weighing up to 1.5 kg. The body, covered with movable rigid plates, is reliably protected from predators, when they appear, the crayfish curl up into a ball.
Most of the representatives of these crustaceans, preferring loneliness, lives at a depth of up to 750 meters and is in a state close to hibernation. The amazing inhabitants of the deep sea feed on sedentary prey: small fish, sea cucumbers, carrion sinking to the bottom. Sometimes you can see hundreds of crayfish devouring the decaying carcasses of dead sharks and whales. The lack of food at depth has adapted the crayfish to do without it for a long time (up to several weeks). Most likely, the accumulated layer of fat, gradually and rationally consumed, helps them to maintain their vital activity.
Blobfish
One of the scariest bottom dwellers on the planet is the drop fish (see deep-sea photos below).
Small close-set eyes and a large mouth with downward corners vaguely resemble the face of a sad person. It is assumed that the fish lives at a depth of up to 1.2 km. Outwardly, it is a shapeless gelatinous lump, the density of whichslightly less than the density of water. This allows the fish to swim quietly for considerable distances, swallowing everything edible and without spending much effort. The lack of scales and the strange shape of the body have put the existence of this organism in danger of extinction. Living off the coast of Tasmania and Australia, it easily becomes the prey of fishermen and is sold as souvenirs.
When laying eggs, a drop fish sits on the eggs to the last, subsequently carefully and for a long time taking care of the hatched fry. Trying to find quiet and uninhabited places for them in deep water, the female responsibly guards her babies, ensuring their safety and helping them survive in difficult conditions. Having no natural enemies in nature, these inhabitants of the deep sea can accidentally get caught together with algae only in fishing nets.
Sackswallower: small and gluttonous
At a depth of up to 3 kilometers, a representative of the perciformes lives - the bag-eater (black eater). This name was given to the fish due to the ability to feed on prey, several times its size. It can swallow organisms four times longer than itself and ten times heavier. This happens due to the absence of ribs and the elasticity of the stomach. For example, the corpse of a 30-centimeter bag-swallower found near the Cayman Islands contained the remains of a fish about 90 cm long. Moreover, the victim was a rather aggressive mackerel, which causes complete bewilderment: how could a small fish overcome a large and strong opponent?
These amazing inhabitants of the deep sea have a darkcoloration, head of medium size and large jaws with three front teeth on each of them, forming sharp fangs. With their help, the bag swallower holds its prey, pushing it into the stomach. Moreover, prey, often large in size, is not digested immediately, which causes cadaveric decomposition directly in the stomach itself. The resulting gas lifts the sac-eater to the surface, where they find strange representatives of the seabed.
Moray eel - a dangerous predator of the deep sea
In the waters of the warm seas you can meet a giant moray eel - a terrible three-meter creature with an aggressive and vicious character. The smooth, scaleless body allows the predator to effectively disguise itself in the muddy bottom, waiting for the prey swimming by. Moray eels spend most of their lives in shelters (on a rocky bottom or in coral reefs with their cracks and grottoes), where they wait for prey.
Outside the caves usually remains the front part of the body and the head with a constantly ajar mouth. The color of the moray eel is an excellent disguise: the yellow-brown color with spots scattered over it resembles the color of a leopard. The moray eel feeds on crustaceans and any fish that can be caught. For eating sick and weak individuals, she is also called the "marine orderly." Sad cases of eating people are known. This happens due to the inexperience of the latter when dealing with fish and persistently pursuing it. Having seized the prey, the predator will open its jaws only after its death, and not before.
Joint fishing for marinePredators
Great interest of scientists is the recently discovered joint fishing of fish, which are antipodes in nature. Moray eel during the hunt hides in coral reefs, where it waits for prey. Sea bass, which is a predator, hunts in open space, which forces small fish to hide in reefs, therefore, in the mouth of moray eels. A hungry perch is always the initiator of a joint hunt, swimming up to the moray eel and shaking its head, which means an invitation to a mutually beneficial fishery. If the moray eel, in anticipation of a delicious dinner, agrees to a tempting offer, it gets out of its hiding place and swims to the gap with the hidden prey, which the perch points to. Moreover, the prey caught together is also eaten together; moray eel shares with perch caught fish.
