10 Odd Sea Creatures That Have Been Discovered in Recent Years

The ocean covers 70% of planet Earth, so it’s only natural that it’s home to millions of creatures. And from that percentage, we have only explored a mere 20%, leaving the rest of the 80% completely unexplored. This means that there is a large number of species that humans don’t know about and have never seen. So, each year, scientists keep discovering new creatures from the deep sea that make us feel smaller and smaller.

1. Atlantic sturgeon

This unique type of sturgeon belongs to the ancient family of Acipenseridae. What is truly amazing about this species is that it has 5 rows of bony plates instead of scales. These plates are there in order to protect the animal from possible attacks. And it’s the reason why this sturgeon wasn’t immediately devoured by a flock of seagulls after being washed up on the beach.

2. The tuna with huge bites

A professional fisherman caught this tuna only to discover these large bite marks all over the fish’s body. Some people rushed to say that these couldn’t be from another fish or shark, as they were too round. However, the man who caught the tuna, Trampman Bermagui, said that they were made by the cookiecutter shark. This specific shark takes large bites from its prey without killing it.

3. A transparent creature

When a video of someone holding this transparent creature made the rounds around the Internet, everyone was puzzled. The little creature was completely see-through, and you could shine a light through its body. Nobody could really recognize the species until an older similar video resurfaced where a man was holding a creature called Cystisoma. They live in low-light environments about 600-1,000 meters deep in the ocean.

4. Deep sea shark

Trapman Bermagui also discovered this deep sea rough skin shark that lives 650 meters below sea level. While many people confused it with a cookiecutter shark, the Australian man let everyone know that this was not the case. According to him, this shark is also known as an endeavour dog shark, and they catch them during wintertime.

5. Pacific viperfish

Also known as Sloane’s viperfish, this species is easily recognizable for its long, fang-like teeth. It originally had a dark silver-blue color, and the sides are covered with hexagonal pigmented areas. During the day, it lives at a depth of 500-2,500 meters, but at night, it travels to more shallow waters, less than 600 meters. It can be found mostly in Australia, and it eats smaller fish in order to survive.

6. Pineapple fish

The unique name was given to it due to the fish’s color combination. One of the most spectacular facts about this species is that it can produce a green light on its jaw, and as the fish ages, the light turns red. It is mostly found in shallow coastal reefs, but it sometimes travels to deeper offshore waters. Once again, this species can mostly be found in Australia.

7. Atolla jellyfish

Also known as crown jelly, this jellyfish is considered the queen of their entire family. That is because its shape looks like it has a small crown on its head. It is also easily recognizable because of its red color, which isn’t visible in deep waters where there is no light. In fact, it appears completely dark in depths over 1,000 meters, giving it the ability to hide from predators.

8. Barreleye fish

What’s truly unique about this fish is that it has a transparent dome at the top of its head, from which 2 green orbs are visible. It lives inside the ocean’s twilight zone, where the natural light fades, and that’s where the unusual eyes come in. They can spot the silhouettes of their prey and catch them off guard. It’s only 15 cm in size and from what scientists have found in its stomach, it eats mainly zooplankton.

9. Footballfish

This fooballfish was first discovered in 1985 when deep-sea fishermen caught it accidentally in California. That extension on its head is used similarly to a fishing rod in order to help them lure and catch their prey. It’s interesting that the female footballfish can be up to 10 times larger than the male ones. This fish eats whatever can fit in their mouth since they live 2,000 to 3,300 feet deep in the ocean where the food sources aren’t that rich.

10. Dumbo octopus

It’s easy to guess why this octopus got its name if you take a look at its large ears. They are not a very common sight since they live up to 13,000 feet below the surface. Their diet consists of snails, worms, and other small creatures that live at the same depth. Their arms are quite short and are webbed, something that helps them tremendously in swimming faster than the regular octopus.

How many more decades or even centuries do you think it will take for humans to discover everything there is to know about the deep ocean?