5 Creepy Sea Animals You’ve Probably Never Heard Of
By Marcy Kennedy (@MarcyKennedy)
Welcome back to my unbelievable real life feature. Usually I focus on a single weird place or creature in our world, but today I thought it might be fun to give you a list of five incredibly strange underwater animals.
#1 – The Red-Lipped Bat Fish
This odd-looking fellow hails from the Galapagos Islands, and he’s such a terrible swimmer that he actually walks along the ocean floor instead. I suspect that’s why he looks so grumpy. The other fish probably tease him.
#2 – The Goblin Shark
Goblin sharks average 10-13 feet long at maturity, but they’d probably send any swimmer heading straight for shore even if they were half that size. Fortunately, they’re a deep sea shark, preferring to live 330 feet or more under water.
#3 – Japanese Spider Crab
“What’s so cool about this one?” you might ask. Well, you can’t tell from this picture, but this spider crab stands as tall as a man, weighs around 42 pounds fully grown, and if you made him stretch out his legs (good luck with that), he’s 12 feet from claw to claw.
#4 – The Blue Dragon
I had to include extra images of this one because it’s just so beautiful. It’s also called a blue angel or a sea swallow, but officially it’s categorized as a sea slug. A rose by any other name I suppose. Unfortunately, along with being beautiful, the blue dragon is also venomous.
#5 – Sea Pig
I couldn’t find a better image to use here legally, but you can see a real-life image of the sea pig at this link. Sea pigs have tubes of their top and their bottom that they can inflate and deflate. Technically, they’re a sea cucumber, which sounds even more strange than calling the blue dragon a sea slug because these sea pigs definitely look more like uncooked sausages than they do like vegetables. They’re one of the few underwater creatures that uses the sense of smell to locate food.
Which one of these five is your favorite? It’s probably no secret that mine is the blue dragon 🙂
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IMAGE CREDITS:
Bat Fish
By Rein Ketelaars (Flickr: DSCN1938.jpg) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Goblin Shark
By Dianne Bray / Museum Victoria [CC BY 3.0 au (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons
Japanese Spider Crab
By Takashi Hososhima from Tokyo, Japan (Japanese spider crab) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Blue Dragon
By Sylke Rohrlach from Sydney (Blue dragon-glaucus atlanticus) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
By Imtorn (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Sea Pig
By Lindberg [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Sep 08, 2015 @ 11:19:50
Most beautiful and favourite has to be the Blue Dragon, even if s/he is venomous. What would happen if Blue Dragon was as large as the spectacular Japanese Spider Crab?
Sep 08, 2015 @ 12:45:53
If the Blue Dragon was as big as the Japanese Spider Crab, I think fewer people would go swimming. Either that or we’d tame them 🙂 Maybe they’re quite friendly and only sting if threatened (like how a dog will only bite if threatened).
Sep 08, 2015 @ 14:38:25
Wow, that crab. O.o I could do without seeing that one or the goblin shark in person.
I agree with you on the Blue Dragon. 🙂 We can hope they’re not aggressive. LOL!
Sep 08, 2015 @ 14:47:04
The Spider Crab creeps me out the most because it does remind me of a giant spider. I’m not a girl who is generally afraid of bugs, but I do NOT like spiders. *shudder*
Sep 08, 2015 @ 15:03:45
Yeah, I have a very strict “don’t show, don’t die” policy in my house. I’m fine with spiders catching other bugs I don’t want around–as long as I don’t have to see them. If I see them, they’re dead. They should know the rules by now. 😉
Sep 08, 2015 @ 21:02:21
Yes Blue Dragon! But the Red Lipped Bat Fish is preeeetty special too. Now the crab…and the shark…they both look as if they were invented by Hollywood–I am not a fan!
Sep 11, 2015 @ 01:40:36
I’d prefer not to meet either the Spider Crab or the Goblin Shark ever. I think some version of them might show up as monsters in a future book 🙂
Sep 08, 2015 @ 23:55:01
Ok, the blue dragon is the prettiest by far. Does it only have one eye? I was guessing that’s what the round bulb on its head was. The goblin shark freaks me out, but is pretty fascinating. I had never heard of any of these creatures. So crazy.
Sep 11, 2015 @ 01:38:54
Two eyes. I think what you might be seeing is its nose 🙂
Sep 09, 2015 @ 02:18:01
Marcy, you’re right, those are 5 creepy creatures I’ve never heard of or care to meet in person. Truly amazing creatures though. I was creeped out by the size of the Spider Crab. 🙂
Sep 11, 2015 @ 01:35:40
Dear Marcy, where did you ever find these sea creatures? They’re so ugly. And creepy. Except for the Blue Dragon. That one is pretty cool. 🙂