Bigfin Squid (Magnapinna)

The Bigfin Squid  was discovered in 1998 by Michael Vecchione and Richard Young. Not much is known about the squid, but scientists have theorized that the small suckers found along the elongated arms are for catching prey by being dragged across the ocean floor. Out of the few Bigfins caught and recorded, all were observed to be juveniles, the largest being measured at 21 feet long. If the largest Bigfin was a juvenile, how big are they fully grown?

Goblin Sharks (Mitsukurina Owstoni)

Goblin Sharks are an ancient species that have been on this planet for 125 million years. This odd looking shark has a long and pointed snout called a rostrum that has sensing organs all over it called ampullae of Lorenzi to find electric waves in the deep dark where it lives, approximately 4200 feet (1300m give or take). Their diet consists of crustaceans, fish, and squid, and they ambush prey by extending their jaw out in a surprise attack. Also, goblin sharks’ long, jaggedy teeth are too big for their mouth, making them one of the few shark species that can’t fit their teeth in their mouth. 

Brine Pools

Brine pools are eerie lakes of thick and toxic brine that sit on the seafloor. Originating from ancient salt deposits that literally cracked under pressure, their deadly nature supports an odd but vibrant ecosystem. Brine pools are rare, but are most commonly found in the Gulf of Mexico. During the Jurassic period, that gulf was a shallow sea, and it slowly closed off over time. Evaporation dried up the sea and the remaining salt was buried under sediment. When the sea rejoined the rest of the ocean, the salt deformed under the extreme pressure. Cracks from the sediment layer let in trickles of water, dissolving the salt and turning it into heavily concentrated brine. The density made it flow into basins, dragging trapped gasses along with it like hydrogen sulfide and methane. Ocean life continued to spite the way of natural biology with giant mussels and tubeworms living off of the resources in a process called chemosynthesis where an organism uses inorganic chemical reactions as their food. Brine pools aren’t as much of a risk to humans for multiple reasons like the fact that nobody goes there except well protected scientists, but can still kill someone.

Greenland Sharks (Somniosus Microcephalus)

Greenland Sharks are another ancient species that has been around for millions of years, foraging in the deep with a very slow metabolism to conserve energy. This species of shark lives in very deep and cold waters, where most sharks develop an extra gill or two for better survival. Efficiency is vital in the deep, and these living fossils have mastered it. They’re fairly large creatures, growing bigger than the Great White Shark at an average 21 feet long. This is a direct cause of deep sea gigantism, where creatures grow larger than their shallow water counterparts to improve their survival. Their main diet consists of cold water fish and carrion, which is the carcass of a large whale after the gas has released (rather explosively) and it sinks to the ocean floor. The average lifespan of a Greenland shark is about 400 years or so, making it the oldest vertebrate on earth.

Phantom Jellyfish (Stygiomedusa Gigantea)

Like the Magnapinna, very little is known about this jellyfish. Only 126 sightings of it have been recorded, so there isn’t a whole lot provided to scientists to study them. The bell of the jellyfish measures at a meter across, and its ghostly velvet arms drift around it, allegedly for catching and feeding on whatever may drift by, measured at 10 meters. The first recorded sighting was in 1910, most likely caught in a net of some kind. A group of tourists once saw this jelly in a passenger submarine on a cruise; just imagine being a tourist, excited to go into the ocean and look at sea creatures, and then you see that! Wonder how they’re doing now…

The open ocean has a massively diverse and significant ecosystem; without it, our life on Earth would be very different. The animals that live in it have adapted to its unforgiving conditions well, with some extra features that help with finding food or mating, but the ocean is still largely undiscovered. Funding for ocean exploration is difficult to come by, so these discoveries could help inspire other people to support marine biologists and find other cool creatures in the deep.