4 Incredible Deep Sea Creatures That Seem Straight From Science Fiction

Written by Angie Menjivar
Updated: July 3, 2023
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The Pink See-through Fantasia is also called the Headless Chicken Monster, the Spanish dancer, and the swimming sea cucumber.

Very few people make it to the very depths of the oceans, which is why new discoveries are constantly made about the exotic creatures that dwell in the deep blue sea. Although these next five creatures have been verified by science, it is still hard to believe they exist.

Hagfish

Hagfish are eel-shaped, marine fish and are the only known living animals that have a skull but no vertebral column.

©Peter Southwood, CC BY-SA 4.0 – License

The first creature this video covers is the Hagfish. This is a bottom dweller that cleans up the ocean floor. It also produces copious amounts of slime as a defense mechanism. Hagfish can be found in groups, particularly when they have encountered anything dead or decaying that requires cleanup. Their bodies look similar to those of eels, but these creatures have razor-sharp teeth—the image is something straight out of a horror movie.

What Do Sea Cucumbers Eat - Sea Cucumber Defending Itself

Sea cucumbers don’t have brains!

©Ethan Daniels/Shutterstock.com

The second creature is the Pink See-Through Fantasia. This is a sea cucumber that was recently discovered in 2007. It is bioluminescent and aside from that, very little known about this creature. It has a translucent body with visible entrails. It has deep yellow and red/pink colors and resembles a flower.

Enypniastes is a genus of deep-sea sea cucumber.

The Pink See-Through Fantasia is a bioluminescent sea cucumber.

©Image courtesy of Expedition to the Deep Slope 2007., Public domain – License

The third creature is a Pyrosome. This creature is composed of hundreds to thousands of zooids. They can grow upwards of 70 feet long and are also bioluminescent, like the second creature on this list. Every Pyrosome is different, but they all serve as filter feeders that consume plankton.

Giant Pyrosome in the bay of Angra do Heroismo. Terceira, Azores, Portugal.

Pyrosomes are composed of hundreds to thousands of zooids.

©dlearyous photography/Shutterstock.com

The fourth creature is the Headless Chicken Monster. This creature is a mobile sea cucumber that has only been found in two locations: Antarctica and the Gulf of Mexico. It’s translucent and is another name for the Pink Sea-Through Fantasia and you can see right through to its organs. It’s a deep brown/purple/red color.

A benthopelagic sea cucumber, otherwise known as the Headless Chicken Monster, is the same species as the pink see-through Fantasia.

©NOAA Okeanos Explorer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons – License

The fifth and number one oddest creature on this list is the Siphonophore. This is a colonial organism that has been spotted in various forms. Some Siphonophores stay close to the surface, floating along, while others are found thousands of feet into the deep blue. Siphonophores are like Pyrosomes in that they are made up of colonial zooids—all of which connect with one another. They can’t survive on their own, and so depend on each other to survive.

Giant Siphonophore

Siphonophores are like Pyrosomes in that they are made up of colonial zooids

©Alzinous, CC BY-SA 4.0 – License

As deep sea exploration continues into the future, there are bound to be more exotic creatures like these discovered.

Watch the countdown of some of the deep blue sea’s oddest creatures.

Summary of 4 Incredible Deep Sea Creatures

NumberDeep Sea Creature
1Hagfish
2Pink See-Through Fantasia/Headless Chicken Monster
3Pyrosome
4Siphonophore
Summary Table of 4 Incredible Deep Sea Creatures

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Peter Southwood / CC BY-SA 3.0 – License / Original


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About the Author

Angie Menjivar is a writer at A-Z-Animals primarily covering pets, wildlife, and the human spirit. She has 14 years of experience, holds a Bachelor's degree in psychology, and continues her studies into human behavior, working as a copywriter in the mental health space. She resides in North Carolina, where she's fallen in love with thunderstorms and uses them as an excuse to get extra cuddles from her three cats.

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