I was very happy to read about the continuity of missions Jupiter’s moon Europa " Europa Clipper mission " We can only be very excited and curious to learn more about the depths of the oceans of Jupiter's moon Europe. The eventual life forms can be infinitely varied, the variety of life oceans of moon Europa is still a mystery at the moment. Thanks to NASA and I want to thank them for their efforts in all areas, we will unravel the mystery of this possible extraterrestrial life ocean soon.
Below is a list of 15 strange species from the depths of the planet Earth's oceans, about which we do not have much scientific information and creatures that still continue to amaze us and surrounded in mystery.
Think of the endless evolutionary possibilities of Jupiter’s moon Europa my friends !
Gulper Eel or Pelican eel
The pelican eel (Eurypharynx pelecanoides) is a deep-sea eel rarely seen by humans, though it is occasionally caught in fishing nets. It is the only known member of the genus Eurypharynx and the family Eurypharyngidae. It belongs to the "saccopharyngiforms", members of which were historically placed in their own order, but are now considered true eels in the order Anguilliformes.
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| The Gulper Eel - Science-rumors |
The pelican eel has been described by many synonyms, yet nobody has been able to demonstrate that more than one species of pelican eel exists. It is also referred to as the gulper eel (which can also refer to members of the related genus Saccopharynx), pelican gulper, and umbrella-mouth gulper. The specific epithet pelecanoides refers to the pelican, as the fish's large mouth is reminiscent of that of the pelican.
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| Sandra Raredon/Smithsonian Institution - cropped version of File:Eurypharynx pelecanoides X-ray.jpg |
Description
Pelican eel specimens can be hard to describe, as they are so fragile that they become damaged when recovered from the immense pressure of the deep sea. The pelican eel's most notable feature is its large mouth, which is much larger than its body.
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| Gulper Eel Remarkable Large Mouth - Our Breathing Planet |
The mouth is loosely hinged, and can be opened wide enough to swallow a fish much larger than the eel itself. The pouch-like lower jaw resembles that of a pelican, hence its name. The lower jaw is hinged at the base of the head, with no body mass behind it, making the head look disproportionately large. Its jaw is so large that it is estimated to be about a quarter of the total length of the eel itself. When it feeds on prey, water that is ingested is expelled via the gills.
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| Scripps Institution - UC San Diego Photo of the Week |
Pelican eels are black or olive and some subspecies may have a thin lateral white stripe. They are ray-finned fish, and only resemble eels in appearance. source of text wikipedia
Hatchetfish ( Marine hatchetfishes or deep-sea hatchetfishes )
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| MLTSHP Deep Sea Hatchetfish |
Found in tropical, subtropical and temperate waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, marine hatchetfishes range in size from Polyipnus danae at 2.8 cm (1.1 in) to the c.12 cm (4.7 in)-long giant hatchetfish (Argyropelecus gigas).
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| Wild Facts Creepy alien fish |
They are small deep-sea fishes which have evolved a peculiar body shape and like their relatives have bioluminescent photophores. The latter allow them to use counter-illumination to escape predators that lurk in the depths: by matching the light intensity with the light penetrating the water from above, the fish does not appear darker if seen from below. They typically occur at a few hundred meters below the surface, but their entire depth range spans from 50 to 1,500 meters deep. source of text wikipedia
Hagfish ( Not to be confused with Hogfish )
Hagfish, of the class Myxini (also known as Hyperotreti), are eel-shaped, slime-producing marine fish (occasionally called slime eels). They are the only known living animals that have a skull but no vertebral column, although hagfish do have rudimentary vertebrae. Along with lampreys, hagfish are jawless; they are the sister group to jawed vertebrates, and living hagfish remain similar to hagfish from around 300 million years ago.
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| Hagfish Bizarre prehistoric alien Pinterest |
The classification of hagfish had been controversial. The issue was whether the hagfish was a degenerate type of vertebrate-fish that through evolution had lost its vertebrae (the original scheme) and was most closely related to lampreys, or whether hagfish represent a stage that precedes the evolution of the vertebral column (the alternative scheme) as is the case with lancelets. Recent DNA evidence has supported the original scheme.
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| Hagfish OCEAN TREASURES |
The original scheme groups hagfish and lampreys together as cyclostomes (or historically, Agnatha), as the oldest surviving class of vertebrates alongside gnathostomes (the now-ubiquitous jawed vertebrates). The alternative scheme proposed that jawed vertebrates are more closely related to lampreys than to hagfish (i.e., that vertebrates include lampreys but exclude hagfish), and introduces the category craniata to group vertebrates near hagfish.
Snipe Eel
Snipe eels are a family, Nemichthyidae, of eels that consists of nine species in three genera. They are pelagic fishes, found in every ocean, mostly at depths of 300–600 m but sometimes as deep as 4000 m. Depending on the species, adults may reach 1–2 m (39–79 in) in length, yet they weigh only 80-400 g (a few ounces to a pound).
They are distinguished by their very slender jaws that separate toward the tips as the upper jaw curves upward. The jaws appear similar to the beak of the bird called the snipe. Snipe eels are oviparous, and the juveniles, called Leptocephali (meaning small head), do not resemble the adults but have oval, leaf-shaped and transparent bodies.
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| A scale diagram of the layers of the pelagic zone. Mature snipe eels generally occupy the Bathypelagic Zone |
Spectacular Snipe Eel Sighting Nautilus Live
Different species of snipe eel have different shapes, sizes and colors. The similarly named bobtail snipe eel is actually in a different family and represented by two species, the black Cyema atrum and the bright red Neocyema erythrosoma.
Giant Isopod
A giant isopod is any of the almost 20 species of large isopods (crustaceans distantly related to shrimp and crabs, which are decapods) in the genus Bathynomus. They are abundant in the cold, deep waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.[1][2] Bathynomus giganteus, the species upon which the generitype is based, is often considered the largest isopod in the world, though other comparably poorly known species of Bathynomus may reach a similar size (e.g., B. kensleyi). The giant isopods are noted for their resemblance to the much smaller common woodlouse (pill bug), to which they are related.
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| A frontal view of Bathynomus giganteus, showing its large, highly reflective compound eyes wikipedia |
French zoologist Alphonse Milne-Edwards was the first to describe the genus in 1879 after his colleague Alexander Agassiz collected a juvenile male B. giganteus from the Gulf of Mexico; this was an exciting discovery for both scientists and the public, as at the time the idea of a lifeless or "azoic" deep ocean had only recently been refuted by the work of Sir Charles Wyville Thomson and others. No females were recovered until 1891.
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| The underside of Bathynomus giganteus wikipedia |
Giant isopods are of little interest to most commercial fisheries, but are infamous for attacking and destroying fish caught in trawls. Specimens caught in the Americas and Japan are sometimes seen in public aquariums.
Sperm Whale or cachalot
The sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) or cachalot is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the genus Physeter and one of three extant species in the sperm whale family, along with the pygmy sperm whale and dwarf sperm whale of the genus Kogia.
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| Sperm Whales Clicking You Inside Out — James Nestor at The Interval youtube |
The sperm whale is a pelagic mammal with a worldwide range, and will migrate seasonally for feeding and breeding. Females and young males live together in groups, while mature males (bulls) live solitary lives outside of the mating season. The females cooperate to protect and nurse their young. Females give birth every four to 20 years, and care for the calves for more than a decade. A mature sperm whale has few natural predators, although calves and weakened adults are sometimes killed by pods of killer whales (orcas).
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| The sperm whale's brain is the largest in the world, five times heavier than a human's. wikipedia |
Mature males average 16 metres (52 ft) in length but some may reach 20.7 metres (68 ft), with the head representing up to one-third of the animal's length. Plunging to 2,250 metres (7,382 ft), it is the third deepest diving mammal, exceeded only by the Southern elephant seal and Cuvier's beaked whale. The sperm whale uses echolocation and vocalization as loud as 230 decibels (re 1 µPa m) underwater. It has the largest brain on Earth, more than five times heavier than a human's. Sperm whales can live 70 years or more.
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| Anatomy of the sperm whale's head. The organs above the jaw are devoted to sound generation. wikipedia |
Spermaceti (sperm oil), from which the whale derives its name, was a prime target of the whaling industry, and was sought after for use in oil lamps, lubricants, and candles. Ambergris, a solid waxy waste product sometimes present in its digestive system, is still highly valued as a fixative in perfumes, among other uses. Beachcombers look out for ambergris as flotsam. Sperm whaling was a major industry in the 19th century, depicted in the novel Moby-Dick. The species is protected by the International Whaling Commission moratorium, and is listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Giant Tube Worm Riftia pachyptila
Riftia pachyptila, commonly known as giant tube worms, are marine invertebrates in the phylum Annelida[1] (formerly grouped in phylum Pogonophora and Vestimentifera) related to tube worms commonly found in the intertidal and pelagic zones. Riftia pachyptila live on the floor of the Pacific Ocean near black smokers, and can tolerate extremely high hydrogen sulfide levels. These worms can reach a length of 3 m (9 ft 10 in) and their tubular bodies have a diameter of 4 cm (1.6 in). Ambient temperature in their natural environment ranges from 2 to 30 degrees Celsius.
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| Photo of one of the largest concentrations of Riftia pachyptila observed, with anemones and mussels colonizing in close proximity. From the 2011 NOAA Galapagos Rift Expedition. The original NOAA image has been modified by increasing brightness. wikipedia |
The common name "giant tube worm" is however also applied to the largest living species of shipworm, Kuphus polythalamia, which despite the name "worm" is a bivalve mollusc, rather than an annelid.
Dragon fish known as Stomiidae other article about Deep-sea dragonfish, one of the most bizarre creatures of the Sea - VIDEO
Stomiidae is a family of deep-sea ray-finned fish, including the barbeled dragonfishes. They are quite small, usually around 15 cm, up to 26 cm. These fish are apex predators and have enormous jaws filled with fang-like teeth.
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| Scientists crack secret of dragonfish's deadly 'invisible' teeth New York Post |
They are also able to hinge the neurocranium and upper-jaw system, which leads to the opening of the jaw to more than 100 degrees.[1] This ability allows them to consume extremely large prey, often 50% greater than their standard length
Angler fish
The anglerfish is a fish of the teleost order Lophiiformes It is a bony fish named for its characteristic mode of predation, in which a fleshy growth from the fish's head (the esca or illicium) acts as a lure for other fish.
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| Representatives of ceratioid families as recognized in this study-1. (A) Centrophrynidae: Centrophryne spinulosa Regan and Trewavas, 136 mm SL, LACM 30379-1; (B) Ceratiidae: Cryptopsaras couesii Gill, 34.5 mm SL, BMNH 2006.10.19.1 (photo by E. A. Widder); (C) Himantolophidae: Himantolophus appelii (Clarke), 124 mm SL, CSIRO H.5652-01; (D) Diceratiidae: Diceratias trilobus Balushkin and Fedorov, 86 mm SL, AMS I.31144-004; (E) Diceratiidae: Bufoceratias wedli (Pietschmann), 96 mm SL, CSIRO H.2285-02; (F) Diceratiidae: Bufoceratias shaoi Pietsch, Ho, and Chen, 101 mm SL, ASIZP 61796 (photo by H.-C. Ho); (G) Melanocetidae: Melanocetus eustales Pietsch and Van Duzer, 93 mm SL, SIO 55-229; (H) Thaumatichthyidae: Lasiognathus amphirhamphus Pietsch, 157 mm SL, BMNH 2003.11.16.12; (I) Thaumatichthyidae: Thaumatichthys binghami Parr, 83 mm SL, UW 47537 (photo by C. Kenaley); (J) Oneirodidae: Chaenophryne quasiramifera Pietsch, 157 mm SL, SIO 72-180. Courtesy of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. |
Some anglerfish are notable for extreme sexual dimorphism and sexual symbiosis of the small male with the much larger female, seen in the suborder Ceratioidei. In these species, males may be several orders of magnitude smaller than females.
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| The Creepy Anglerfish Comes to Light. (Just Don't Get Too Close ... NYT |
Anglerfish occur worldwide. Some are pelagic (dwelling away from the sea floor), while others are benthic (dwelling close to the sea floor). Some live in the deep sea (e.g., Ceratiidae), while others on the continental shelf (e.g., the frogfishes Antennariidae and the monkfish/goosefish Lophiidae). Pelagic forms are most laterally compressed, whereas the benthic forms are often extremely dorsoventrally compressed (depressed), often with large upward-pointing mouths.
Viperfish
A viperfish is any species of marine fish in the genus Chauliodus. Viperfish are characterized by long, needle-like teeth and hinged lower jaws. A typical viperfish grows to lengths of 30 to 60 cm (12 to 23.5 in). Viperfish stay near lower depths in the daytime and shallower depths at night, primarily in tropical and temperate waters. Viperfish are believed to attack prey after luring them within range with light-producing organs called photophores, which are located along the ventral sides of its body, and with a prominent photophore at the end of a long spine in the dorsal fin reminiscent of the illicium of the unrelated deepsea anglerfishes. The viperfish flashes this natural light on and off, at the same time moving its dorsal spine around like a fishing rod and hanging completely still in the water. It also uses the light producing organ to communicate to potential mates and rivals.
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| Animal Diversity Web Chauliodus sloan |
Viperfish vary in color from green, silver, to black. A viperfish uses its fang-like teeth to immobilize prey and would not be able to close its mouth because of their length, if it were not able to fold and curve them behind its head. The first vertebra behind the head of the viperfish absorbs the shock of biting prey. As with other deepsea fish, they are able to endure long periods with minimal food.
Viperfish are believed to live from 30 to 40 years in the wild, but in captivity they rarely live more than a few hours. Some species of dolphins and sharks are known to prey upon viperfish. Scientists believe they can swim at a speed of two body lengths per second, but this is not yet an official speed.
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| Viper fish zoom photo pinterest |
Although it may appear to be covered in scales, it is covered by a thick, transparent coating of unknown substance. Extremely large, fang-like teeth give the fish a slightly protruded lower jaw which makes catching prey easy. The viperfish is lined with three different types of photophores, which some speculate are used to lure prey. They have microscopic spheres without a pigment layer that are scattered over the dorsal side, large spheres with a pigment coat, reflectors, and lens and large, bell-shaped organs with a pigment coat, reflectors, and lens that are grouped together in rows along the dorsal surface. Photophores can also be seen along the ventral and lateral surface of the fish. source wikipedia
Fangtooth
Fangtooths are beryciform fish of the family Anoplogastridae (sometimes spelled "Anoplogasteridae") that live in the deep sea. The name is from Greek anoplo meaning "unarmed" and gaster meaning "stomach". With a circumglobal distribution in tropical and cold-temperate waters, the family contains only two very similar species in one genus, with no known close relatives.
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| Anoplogaster cornuta - Wikipedia |
While understandably named for their disproportionately large, fang-like teeth and unapproachable visage, fangtooths are actually quite small and harmless to humans: the larger of the two species, the common fangtooth, reaches a maximum length of just 16 cm (6.3 in) the shorthorn fangtooth is less than half this size though currently known only from juvenile specimens.
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| New Scientist Up close with the giant teeth of the deep-sea fangtooth |
The head is small with a large jaw and appears haggard, riddled with mucous cavities delineated by serrated edges and covered by a thin skin. The eyes are relatively small, set high on the head; the entire head is a dark brown to black and is strongly compressed laterally, deep anteriorly and progressively more slender towards the tail.
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| Laboratory News Common Fangtooth alien face |
The fins are small, simple, and spineless; the scales are embedded in the skin and take the form of thin plates. As compensation for reduced eyes, the lateral line is well-developed and appears as an open groove along the flanks.
Vampire Squid
The vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis, lit. "vampire squid from Hell") is a small cephalopod found throughout temperate and tropical oceans in extreme deep sea conditions. Unique retractile sensory filaments justify the vampire squid's placement in its own order, Vampyromorphida, as it shares similarities with both octopuses and squid. As a phylogenetic relict, it is the only known surviving member of its order. The first specimens were collected on the Valdivia Expedition and they were originally described as an octopus in 1903 by German teuthologist Carl Chun, but later assigned to a new order together with several extinct taxa.
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| Vampire Squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) – Our Wild World |
Description
The vampire squid can reach a maximum total length around 30 cm (1 ft). Its 15-centimetre (5.9 in) gelatinous body varies in colour from velvety jet-black to pale reddish, depending on location and lighting conditions. A webbing of skin connects its eight arms, each lined with rows of fleshy spines or cirri; the inner side of this "cloak" is black.
Only the distal halves (farthest from the body) of the arms have suckers. Its limpid, globular eyes, which appear red or blue, depending on lighting, are proportionately the largest in the animal kingdom at 2.5 cm (1 in) in diameter. The name of the animal was inspired by its dark colour, cloaklike webbing, and red eyes, rather than habit—it feeds on detritus, not blood.
Oarfish
Not to be confused with Paddlefish.
Oarfish are large, greatly elongated, pelagic lampriform fish belonging to the small family Regalecidae. Found in all temperate to tropical oceans yet rarely seen, the oarfish family contains three species in two genera. One of these, the giant oarfish (Regalecus glesne), is the longest bony fish alive, growing up to 8 m (26 ft) in length.
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| Sea Serpent - Can the Giant Oarfish Predict Earthquakes? The Vintage News |
The common name oarfish is thought to be in reference either to their highly compressed and elongated bodies, or to the now discredited belief that the fish "row" themselves through the water with their pelvic fins. The family name Regalecidae is derived from the Latin regalis, meaning "royal". The occasional beachings of oarfish after storms, and their habit of lingering at the surface when sick or dying, make oarfish a probable source of many sea serpent tales.
Although the larger species are considered game fish and are fished commercially to a minor extent, oarfish are rarely caught alive; their flesh is not well regarded for eating due to its gelatinous consistency
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| United States Navy SEALS holding a 23-foot (7.0 m) giant oarfish, found washed up on the shore near San Diego, California, in September 1996 wikipedia |
Anatomy and morphology
The dorsal fin originates from above the (relatively large) eyes and runs the entire length of the fish. Of the approximately 400 dorsal fin rays, the first 10 to 13 are elongated to varying degrees, forming a trailing crest embellished with reddish spots and flaps of skin at the ray tips. The pelvic fins are similarly elongated and adorned, reduced to one to five rays each. The pectoral fins are greatly reduced and situated low on the body.
The anal fin is completely absent and the caudal fin may be reduced or absent, as well, with the body tapering to a fine point. All fins lack true spines. At least one account, from researchers in New Zealand, described the oarfish as giving off "electric shocks" when touched.
Nautilus
The nautilus (from the Latin form of the original Ancient Greek: ναυτίλος, 'sailor') is a pelagic marine mollusc of the cephalopod family Nautilidae, the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and of its smaller but near equal suborder, Nautilina.
It comprises six living species in two genera, the type of which is the genus Nautilus. Though it more specifically refers to species Nautilus pompilius, the name chambered nautilus is also used for any of the Nautilidae. All are protected under CITES Appendix II.
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| Nautilus, Palau wikipedia |
Nautilidae, both extant and extinct, are characterized by involute or more or less convolute shells that are generally smooth, with compressed or depressed whorl sections, straight to sinuous sutures, and a tubular, generally central siphuncle. Having survived relatively unchanged for hundreds of millions of years, nautiluses represent the only living members of the subclass nautiloidea, and are often considered "living fossils".
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| Diagram of the anatomical structure of a female N. pompilius including most of its internal organs. wikipedia |
The first and oldest fossil of Chambered Nautilus displayed at Philippine National Museum.
The word nautilus is derived from the Greek ναυτίλος nautílos and originally referred to the paper nautiluses of the genus Argonauta, which are actually octopuses. The word nautílos literally means "sailor", as paper nautiluses were thought to use two of their arms as sails
Coelacanth
Latimeria chalumnae "fish with legs from Indian Ocean" the mysterious living fossil reveals its secrets
The coelacanths (/ˈsiːləkænθ/ (About this soundlisten) SEE-lə-kanth) constitute a now-rare order of fish that includes two extant species in the genus Latimeria: the West Indian Ocean coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) primarily found near the Comoro Islands off the east coast of Africa and the Indonesian coelacanth (Latimeria menadoensis). They follow the oldest-known living lineage of Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish and tetrapods), which means they are more closely related to lungfish and tetrapods than to ray-finned fish. They are found along the coastlines of the Indian Ocean and Indonesia. The West Indian Ocean coelacanth is a critically endangered species.
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| Preserved Latimeria menadoensis, Tokyo Sea Life Park, Japan wikipedia |
Coelacanths belong to the subclass Actinistia, a group of lobed-finned fish related to lungfish and certain extinct Devonian fish such as osteolepiforms, porolepiforms, rhizodonts, and Panderichthys. Coelacanths were thought to have become extinct in the Late Cretaceous, around 66 million years ago, but were rediscovered in 1938 off the coast of South Africa.
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| Pectoral fin of a West Indian Ocean coelacanth wikipedia |
The coelacanth was long considered a "living fossil" because scientists thought it was the sole remaining member of a taxon otherwise known only from fossils, with no close relations alive,[5] and that it evolved into roughly its current form approximately 400 million years ago. However, several recent studies have shown that coelacanth body shapes are much more diverse than previously thought.
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