Flapjack octopus 05.10.22 The adorable flapjack octopus sits on the seafloor like a flat, fluffy pancake.
Bamboo coral 05.10.22 Ancient bamboo coral forests grow on seamount slopes, but these are animals, not plants.
Fangtooth 05.10.22 Despite this fish’s fierce name and ferocious looks, fangtooth is a rather small—and possibly lazy—predator.
Sea pig 05.10.22 Sea pigs are sea cucumbers that snuffle across the seafloor to find tasty morsels in the mud.
Red siphonophore 05.10.22 The spectacular scarlet color of the red siphonophore is camouflage in the ocean’s midnight zone.
Bomber worm 05.10.22 The midnight zone is a world of total darkness where predators lurk in the shadows ready to pounce on prey. The small bomber worm (Swima spp.) swims in the waters a few meters above the seafloor. A wriggling worm is exposed out in the open, but it has a secret weapon to avoid becoming a meal for a hungry predator.
Pompeii worm 05.10.22 The Pompeii worm (Alvinella pompejana) makes its home on deep-sea hydrothermal vents, where superheated water belches from the Earth’s crust.