These are the creepy crawlies and
monsters of the deep you've been waiting to see. Starting with the first
really deep ocean zone - the Mesopelagic...
Life in
the Deep
Many species of deep ocean fish have
special adaptations to living in extremely high pressure, low light
conditions. Viper fish (Mesopelagic - found at 80-1600
meters - about a mile down) are some of the most wicked looking fish
dredged up from the depths. Some of them are black as night all over
with light organs (called photophores) in strategic places on
their bodies, including one on a long dorsal fin that serves as a lure
for the fish it preys upon. Some viperfish (and many other deep ocean
fish species) don't have any pigment (color) at all - they're
"see through". They also have enlarged eyes, presumably for
gathering as much light as possible where there is little or no light
at all. The light organs create lights by using a chemical process called
bioluminescence.
Other deep ocean fish, such as the the gulper eel 
See many more photos of creeps from
the deep on ExploretheAbyss.com!
have a hinged skull, which can rotate
upward to swallow large prey. They also have large stomachs which can
stretch to accommodate a fish much larger than itself. The gulper eel
is particularly well-known for its impossibly large mouth - big enough
to get its mouth around (and swallow!) creatures much bigger than itself.
Fish that live down here must adapt to a very low food supply, eating
only "scraps" that sink down from above, or sometimes eating each other.
Go to the next page to see
more creeps from the deep...
Here's
an up close and personal view of the wicked-looking Viper fish (Chauliodus
macouni). Check out the teeth and the bug eyes on this guy! Click on
the photo to see a much larger picture...
(photo courtesy of Paul Yancey,
Biology Dept., Whitman College,
Walla Walla Washington)
