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If you ’re look for bizarre beast that defy account , there is no good place to see than the deep sea . Every year , researchers seize incredible footage of foreign - wait animals and strange new species lurk in the inscrutable , and this year was no different . Here is our list of the top 10 weirdest recondite - ocean tool seen in 2021 .
Blood-red jellyfish
In August , investigator with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ) denote the discovery of a stain - fresh and unnamed species of lineage - ruby-red jellyfish . The dark red jelly likely belongs to the genusPoralia , according to the research worker .
They first spotted the fresh jelly on July 28 using a remotely operated vehicle ( ROV ) at a deepness of around 2,300 human foot ( 700 metre ) just off the coast of Newport , Rhode Island . Other animals , including other cnidarian ( jellyfish & corals ) , ctenophores ( comb jelly ) , crustaceans andActinopterygii(ray - finned Pisces ) , were also encounter on the dive .
Lots of deep - sea creatures have evolved a similar red semblance because red wavelengths of luminosity do not penetrate into the abstruse ocean . This means that red creature appear black because there is no ruby light to reverberate back toward potential vulture .
This mysteries red jelly may be a new species previously unknown to science, NOAA researchers say.
Read more : occult rip - red-faced Portuguese man-of-war may be rare species unknown to science , researchers say
Elusive glass octopus
Also in August , researchers from the Schmidt Ocean Institute ( SOI ) released footage of an tough glassoctopus(Vitreledonella richardi ) off the coast of the distant Phoenix Islands , an archipelago located more than 3,200 miles ( 5,100 kilometre ) north-east of Sydney , Australia .
The translucentcephalopodwas in the beginning discovered during a 34 - day expedition of the Central Pacific Ocean onboard the SOI ’s enquiry vessel Falkor . Onboard scientist espy the fauna using the ROV SuBastian , which drop a total of 182 hour scanning the seafloor during the expedition .
Like other " glass " creatures , such as glass frogs and certain comb jellies , ice octopus are almost completely gossamer , with only their cylindrical optic , optic nerve and digestive parcel of land appear unintelligible .
A glass octopus (Vitreledonella richardi)was spotted by researchers from the Schmidt Ocean Institute in the deep sea of the Central Pacific Ocean.
Read more : Elusive glass devilfish tell apart in the remote Pacific Ocean ( Video )
Shape-shifting whalefish
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute ( MBARI ) released footage in August render a vivid orange , female whalefish ( of the orderCetomimiformes ) around 6,600 feet ( 2,013 m ) deep offshore of Monterey Bay , California .
Very little is known about this bizarre Pisces because of the three drastically different show of the juvenile person ( tapetails ) , Male ( bignoses ) and females ( whalefish ) . The three forms look so unlike that scientist originally recall they were three unlike species . The form - shift transformation from juvenile to mature females is think to be one of the most extreme among any vertebrates .
" Whalefish have rarely been seen alive in the deep , so many mystery story stay regarding these remarkable Pisces , " the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute tweeted .
An elusive whalefish was spotted 6,600 feet (2,013 meters) deep offshore of Monterey Bay, California.
Read more : physique - shifting fish that confounded scientist for 100 year spotted off California coast
‘Emperor Dumbo’
In May , researchers report the discovery of a brand Modern mintage of Dumbo devilfish ( Grimpteuthis imperator ) , nickname " Emperor Dumbo " by the investigator .
researcher discovered the endearing creature in 2016 when they accidentally drag it to the surface in a net while aboard the German enquiry vas Sonne during an expedition of the Aleutian Islands in the Bering Sea . Dumbo octopus species can be identified by the umbrella - same webbing link their tentacle and their cartoonishly ear - like V that resemble the oversized ears on Disney ’s famous elephant .
" It was a really lucky discovery , " Alexander Ziegler , a researcher at Friedrich Wilhelm University in Bonn , Germany , and primary scientist onboard the inquiry vessel , tell Live Science , " because we were n’t really look for it . Plus , the whole animal total to the surface integral . "
The newly discovered Emperor Dumbo octopus (Grimpteuthis imperator).
Read more : All hail ' Emperor Dumbo , ' the newest species of mystifying - dwelling devilfish
Real-life SpongeBob and Patrick
In August , NOAA release a comical photo of the real - life story counterpart of the animated cartoon good friends SpongeBob Squarepants and Patrick Star side - by - side on the seafloor .
The double of the square(ish ) yellowish parazoan and five - pointed pink sea star were taken by an ROV on July 27 , at a depth of 6,184 human foot ( 1,885 yard ) during an junket of the Retriever Seamount off the coast of New England .
" The leech is [ in ] the genusHertwigiaand the sea wizard is [ in ] the genusChondraster , " Christopher Mah , a marine biologist at Smithsonian ’s National Museum of Natural History who first made the comparison on Twitter , told Live Science . The exact species is ill-defined , and they could even be make young to science , he added .
The real-life SpongeBob and Patrick side by side on the seafloor.
Read more : Real - life sentence SpongeBob and Patrick found side by side on seafloor . But they likely do n’t get along .
Alien-like spindly squid
In November , NOAA scientists spotted a rare bigfin squid ( of the genusMagnapinna ) with an ROV during an expedition in the Gulf of Mexico .
The ghostly squid has a very odd body plan with Brobdingnagian , iridescent fins and off-the-wall elbow joint - same crease in its tentacle . " All of their arms and tentacle have this long , spaghetti - corresponding denotation , " Mike Vecchione , a research animal scientist with the NOAA Fisheries National Systematics Laboratory , can be heard saying in the NOAA video footage . " It ’s really unmanageable to evidence the sleeve from the tentacles , which is very unusual for a squid . "
To date , there have been few than 20 confirmed sightings of this deep - sea cephalopod since it was first discovered in 1998 .
NOAA scientists captured footage of a rare bigfin squid in the Gulf of Mexico.
Read more : Eerie picture captures elusive , exotic - like squid gliding in the Gulf of Mexico
Giant phantom jellyfish
In November , MBARI released rare television footage of a giant phantom jellyfish ( Stygiomedusa gigantea ) . Scientists operating an ROV at a depth of 3,200 foot ( 975 m ) in Monterey Bay , California , descry the monolithic gelatin , with its 3.3 - foot - broad ( 1 m ) toll and 33 - foot - long ( 10 m ) typewriter ribbon - like arm .
Not much is known about phantom jellyfish , but scientist remember it use its arms , which pour like loose scarves in its wake , to ensnare unfortunate target and winch them up to its mouth . The creature also propels itself through the pitch - black deepness with periodical pulses from its faintly glowing bell .
" The giant phantom jelly was first compile in 1899 . Since then , scientist have only encountered this fauna about 100 time , " MBARIsaid in a statement . Although it is seldom spot , the jelly has been found in the profundity of every major ocean in the world , except for the Arctic Ocean .
A giant phantom jellyfish (Stygiomedusa gigantea) was caught on film by MBARI scientists in Monterey Bay.
say more : Giant ' phantom jellyfish ' that eats with mouth - arms spotted off California coast
Photobombing squid
In October , researchers judge to map the seafloor of the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea were shock when they discovered a recent shipwreck from 2011 . While examine to film the stiff of the vessel , the team ’s ROV was continuously photobombed by a purpleback flying squid ( Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis ) .
The shipwreck and squid were found at a depth of around 2,788 foot ( 850 m ) . The scientist from OceanX call back it was a solitary squid , but it may have been more than one as it was hard to identify the cephalopod as it zoomed across the silver screen . The researchers also said the squid had a full dead body distance of about 6 feet ( 2 K ) , which would be near the maximum sizing for the coinage .
" It was just so spectacular for me , " Mattie Rodrigue , scientific discipline program atomic number 82 at OceanX , told Live Science . " We had absolutely no idea that we were go to run across such a brilliant and bombastic animate being . "
The purpleback flying squid (Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis) that swam past the ROV investigating the shipwreck in the Gulf of Aqaba.
Read more : Giant purpleblack fly squid photobombs crew investigating shipwreck
Sponge tracks on the seafloor
In April , a Modern work revealed the first grounds of thick - ocean sponge crawling around on the seafloor , after researchers snapped pic of flakey dark-brown tracks left behind by the surprisingly mobile creatures in theArctic .
The leech track were first photographed in 2016 by towed cameras behind a research watercraft at Langseth Ridge — a poorly studied part of the Arctic Ocean that ’s permanently covered insea meth — at a depth of between 2,300 and 3,300 feet ( 700 to 1,000 meters ) .
" The trail are made up of the spicules , or spines , which the quick study can grow , " study cobalt - author Autun Purser , a mysterious - sea ecologist at the Alfred Wegener Institute at the Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research in Germany , told Live Science . " The sponge seems to expand along these spines , then contract to the new , travel spot . During this physical process , some spines break off , forming the lead . "
An example of the strange trails left by sponges as they crawl across the seafloor in the Arctic.
Read more : north-polar sponge creeping around the seafloor and leave bizarre brown trail to demonstrate it
A see through skull
In December , MBARI investigator caught a rarified coup d’oeil of a barreleye Pisces the Fishes ( Macropinna microstoma ) . This freakish Pisces the Fishes has a semitransparent forehead , which it really looks through using a pair of bellied immature eyes inside its head .
An ROV filmed the strange creature while cruising at a depth of about 2,132 foot ( 650 metre ) in the Monterey Submarine Canyon , one of the deep submarine canyons on the Pacific coast . inordinately , MBARI scientist have only ever spotted the species nine metre antecedently , despite having complete more than 5,600 dive in the fish ’s home ground .
" The barreleye first appeared very small out in the blue distance , but I like a shot knew what I was looking at . It could n’t be mistaken for anything else , " Thomas Knowles , a elderly aquarist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium , told Live Science .
Footage of a barreleye fish (Macropinna microstoma) taken by MBARI scientists in the Monterey Submarine Canyon
understand more : fresh footage shows flaky deep - sea Pisces that sees through its forehead
Originally published on Live Science .
