#deep-sea fish

[creeket]

Thanks to @kaisumisucreations for the inspo to add a cherry bomb on my scug's head!

Look at the two of them,, ready and willing to put em up

[quotesfrommyreading]

For other species, the moon’s light is more important as a navigational cue than as an aphrodisiac. Migrating chum salmon swim more quickly and at shallower depths during a full moon, likely because they are using its light as a lodestar. Albatrosses and streaked shearwaters often fly more frequently and for longer periods of time under a full moon, perhaps because they can travel farther with increased visual acuity, or to avoid lurking ocean predators whose eyesight is improved by moonlit water. Newborn rabbit fish seem to depend on moon phases to reach safety: on the day before or during the new moon, when the sea is darkest, rabbit fish fry born in the open sea migrate en masse to the haven of coral reefs.

Even plankton move differently beneath the moon. Every day, in oceans around the world, plankton sink to greater depths, and rise again at night, most likely to avoid predation and feed in shallower waters under the cover of dark. Scientists are still not sure what drives this daily rhythm, but a biochemical clock synced to the sun is one of the primary hypotheses. During the Arctic winter, however, sunlight never reaches some regions of the ocean. A recent study suggests that plankton living in this frigid continuous dusk rely instead on the moon.

Some animals do not just change beneath the moon; they change into the moon. During the day, bobtail squid—speckled, peanut-sized cephalopods related to cuttlefish—bury themselves in sand to rest and hide from predators. At night, they emerge to feed on shrimp and worms. Having abandoned the seafloor and exposed themselves to potential danger, the tiny mollusks cloak themselves in an entirely different kind of camouflage. Bobtail squid have evolved one of the most magical symbioses on the planet. Bioluminescent bacteria live within the folds of a chambered sac in the squid’s mantle, generating light that spills from the squid’s underside. A lens and color filter attached to this internal lantern—known as the light organ— modulate the microbial glow to mimic the light of the moon and stars filtering down through the water. In this way, bobtail squid erase their own shadow. Instead of seeing a conspicuous squid-shaped silhouette, any predator gazing up from below sees only more moonlit sea. Several other species—including deepwater fish, crustaceans, and true squid—use similar counter-illumination strategies.

 —   The Lunar Sea

[marinememes]

Snipe eel is the perfect name for that thing

[heartnosekid]

rainbow tripod fish larva (bathypterois grallator) | source

[snailfish-enthusiast]

The wonderful Glass Octopus. Living at depths of around 3000 ft and only being about a foot long, these strange little creatures are rarely seen by scientists.

[thedeepsharks]

[the-briny-bulletin]

Cryptid fish that has only been seen once and never again that may or may not exist but well never know my beloved

[hauchiko]

crying over the fact that fish go through twink death.

bony eared assfish, as an adult

nothing offensive, nothing bizarre just a regular guy but from the deep sea world

as a JUVENILE??

dressed to the NINES, full GALA outfit, ready to cause some divine RADIANCE

[samimarkart]

i love these wacky guys

[olive-ridley]

Pictured: pelagic thresher shark, orca, porbeagle shark, blue shark, snailfish, Greenland shark, rockfish, bigfin squid, mako shark, and basket star

[creeket]

New drawings of Fish!

[venusforfran]

What deep sea creature are you?

[marinememes]

[heartnosekid]

baby tripod fish (bathypterois grallator) | source

[foxsnails]

Every time I see a pic of the tripod fish I just wanna put lil shoes on them