Strangest Deep Sea Creatures — Yourlist

Strangest Deep Sea Creatures

a Yourlist ranking · the crowd decides the order

From bioluminescent anglerfish to alien-looking siphonophores, the deep ocean hosts nature's weirdest life forms. Vote for the creature you find the strangest!

What counts: Best means most bizarre in appearance, behavior, or biology. Depth, size, and discovery year are approximate and sourced from general scientific consensus.

Anglerfish
A glowing lure dangling from its head lets this ambush predator fish for prey in total darkness.
Typical Depth: 200-2000mMax Size: ~20cm (females)Weirdness: 9/10First Described: 1830s
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Giant Isopod
A pill bug the size of a house cat that can survive years without eating.
Typical Depth: 200-2500mMax Size: ~40cmWeirdness: 8/10First Described: 1879
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Vampire Squid
Not quite squid or octopus, this crimson creature turns itself inside-out to scare off predators.
Typical Depth: 600-1200mMax Size: ~30cmWeirdness: 9/10First Described: 1903
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Barreleye Fish
Its transparent dome-shaped head reveals tubular eyes that rotate to peer upward through its skull.
Typical Depth: 600-800mMax Size: ~15cmWeirdness: 10/10First Described: 1939
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Goblin Shark
A living fossil with a protruding snout and jaws that shoot forward like an alien to snatch prey.
Typical Depth: 270-960mMax Size: ~3.8mWeirdness: 9/10First Described: 1898
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Fangtooth Fish
Proportionally the largest teeth of any ocean fish, so big they don't even fit inside its closed mouth.
Typical Depth: 500-5000mMax Size: ~18cmWeirdness: 8/10First Described: 1833
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Dumbo Octopus
Ear-like fins flap to help this adorable deep-sea octopus glide gracefully above the seafloor.
Typical Depth: 3000-4000mMax Size: ~20cmWeirdness: 6/10First Described: 1883
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Giant Squid
The legendary kraken made real, with eyes the size of dinner plates and tentacles stretching over 10 meters.
Typical Depth: 300-1000mMax Size: ~13mWeirdness: 9/10First Described: 1857
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Colossal Squid
Heavier than the giant squid, armed with swiveling hooks on its tentacles instead of just suckers.
Typical Depth: 1000-2000mMax Size: ~10mWeirdness: 9/10First Described: 1925
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Frilled Shark
A snake-like shark with 300 needle-sharp teeth arranged in rows, looking straight out of the Jurassic.
Typical Depth: 50-1500mMax Size: ~2mWeirdness: 9/10First Described: 1884
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Blobfish
Famous as the 'world's ugliest animal,' this gelatinous fish only looks blob-like out of water pressure.
Typical Depth: 600-1200mMax Size: ~30cmWeirdness: 8/10First Described: 1926
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Siphonophore
Not one animal but a colony of clones acting as one, some stretching longer than a blue whale.
Typical Depth: 700-1000mMax Size: ~45mWeirdness: 10/10First Described: 1750s
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Sea Pig
Pink, plump, and pig-like, these sea cucumbers vacuum up sediment on the abyssal plains by the thousands.
Typical Depth: 1000-6000mMax Size: ~10cmWeirdness: 7/10First Described: 1896
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Gulper Eel
A tiny body attached to an enormous hinged mouth that can swallow prey far bigger than itself.
Typical Depth: 500-3000mMax Size: ~1mWeirdness: 9/10First Described: 1882
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Yeti Crab
Blonde, hairy claws host bacteria colonies the crab may actually farm and eat for food.
Typical Depth: 2000-2600mMax Size: ~15cmWeirdness: 8/10First Described: 2005
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Chimaera (Ghost Shark)
A cartilaginous cousin of sharks with a venomous spine and an eerie, translucent appearance.
Typical Depth: 200-2600mMax Size: ~1.5mWeirdness: 8/10First Described: 1700s
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Giant Tube Worm
Lacking a mouth or gut, these worms rely entirely on symbiotic bacteria near scalding hydrothermal vents.
Typical Depth: 1500-2500mMax Size: ~2mWeirdness: 9/10First Described: 1980
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Deep Sea Dragonfish
A fearsome predator that produces its own red light, invisible to prey that can't see that wavelength.
Typical Depth: 1000-2000mMax Size: ~15cmWeirdness: 8/10First Described: 1930
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Pacific Viperfish
Needle-like teeth so long they don't fit in its mouth, glinting under bioluminescent photophores.
Typical Depth: 250-5000mMax Size: ~30cmWeirdness: 8/10First Described: 1890
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Football Fish
A round, spiny anglerfish relative whose glowing lure has inspired countless deep-sea nightmares.
Typical Depth: 200-2000mMax Size: ~60cmWeirdness: 8/10First Described: 1899
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Sea Spider (Pycnogonid)
Deep-sea versions of these spindly arthropods can grow to dinner-plate size, dwarfing shallow relatives.
Typical Depth: 1000-7000mMax Size: ~50cm leg spanWeirdness: 7/10First Described: 1800s
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