![]() The name Psychrolutidae comes from the Greek word meaning ‘to have a cold bath.’ This is fitting for the blobfish, because it lives deep in the ocean, where it is certainly cold! Our two specimens were collected from the tropical eastern Atlantic Ocean at depths between 1,060 and 1,200m, in 1993.īlobfish are deep-sea fish from the family Psychrolutidae. When disturbed, these can glow and pulse and the arms may writhe so that it becomes very difficult to tell one end of the vampire squid from the other. They also have amazing bioluminescent displays with light organs on the tip of each arm and at the base of each fin. If disturbed, it will curl its arms up outwards and wrap them around its body, almost turning itself inside-out and, exposing spiny projections called cirri. Like many deep-sea cephalopods, the vampire squid lacks ink sacs. However, the vampire squid does not really live up to its name since actually feeds on detritus, and does not suck blood! They are neither an octopus nor a squid and actually has its own order, the Vampyromorphida. The literal translation of the Latin species name is ‘vampire squid from Hell’, a name inspired by its velvety jet-black to pale reddish cloak-like webbing and red eyes. Our specimen was collected in 1998 from the Porcupine Abyssal Plain in the North Atlantic at around 4,830m. They are scavengers, looking for any food small enough to fit into their mouths, such as marine snow and small invertebrates. These giant shrimp are common in the deep North Atlantic waters, particularly the Porcupine Abyssal Plain. Prior to this discovery, the question of what the ‘monster larvae’ grow into had been puzzling scientists for nearly 200 years. The link between the two animals, which until 2012 had been classified as two different species, was only confirmed by comparing DNA sequences of larvae and adult specimens. The larvae are rarely seen and have most often been encountered during studies of gut contents of larger open ocean predators such as tuna and dolphin. These thick-bodied colourful and unusual looking larvae eventually develop into full grown red pigmented deep-sea shrimp. When these shrimp reproduce, they produce a ‘monster larva’. Many of these animals appear alien to us some having huge eyes to capture any remaining light, immense gaping jaws filled with needle sharp teeth, and with transparent, inky black or deep red bodies, allowing them to disappear in the dark. Thousands of fish, seastars, crustaceans, corals, jellyfish and worms, have evolved to survive here. Yet, there is life – the deep oceans are filled with a myriad of strange life forms, creatures beyond our imagination. ![]() ![]() It is even harder to imagine there could be anything living there. It is hard to imagine a more hostile environment than this icy cold, pitch black, crushing ecosystem of the deep ocean. ![]() Once you reach the depths of the ocean the pressure will be immense, the temperature around freezing, and all light absent. Dive deeper and the temperature will drop and the pressure rise. ![]() In the first few tens of metres there would be some light remaining, but this would start to fade rapidly. Imagine you could travel away from our familiar shores, out to the open ocean and begin diving down. ![]()
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