Meet the Deep for National Ocean Month: NOAA Ocean Exploration

Instead, it has evolved two sockets on either side of its brain where the bottom teeth slide in when its jaws shut. Scientists continue to make discoveries about both extreme environments, but so far, only one has been found to support animal life—and those creatures will haunt your dreams. Humans have explored less than 2% of the ocean floor, and dozens of new species of deep-sea creatures are discovered with every dive. Deep-sea Hatchetfish should not be confused with freshwater hatchet fishes, which are not related to them. They just share the name and that’s pretty much it — we’re interested in the deep sea creature. Unlike many of the creatures here, the fish commonly called “stargazer” also live in more shallow areas.

The Ocean Census Announces 2025 Species Discovery Awardees

Covering more than half of the planet’s surface, this hidden world is teeming with unique and bizarre life forms—from glowing jellyfish to fish that can withstand crushing pressure. Each species plays a role in the delicate balance of marine ecosystems, highlighting the importance of protecting this incredible part of our world. There is widespread concern in the scientific community that a proposed new extractive industry — deep seabed mining (DSM) — would have an irreversible impact on delicately balanced deep ocean ecosystems. In April 2025, President Trump announced a stunning shift in the so-called “gold rush” to mine the deep sea.

Cataloguing Species

The literal translation of the Latin species name is ‘vampire squid from Hell’, a name inspired by its velvety jet-black to pale reddish cloak-like webbing and red eyes. The Ocean Census accelerated discovery in 2025 through global expeditions, empowering scientists, funding taxonomy, whilst engaging thousands worldwide. For Deep Sea more detailed information, you can access the full article on the International Hydrographic Review website​​. This article was originally published in March 2023 and has been edited for additional clarity and more information. Remarkably, recent research has found that these deepsea creatures even camouflage their teeth, making them transparent — and they do this by using nanocrystals. They are superficially similar to other eel species but have many internal differences.

Water Column

But the ocean floor consists of more than just the flat and seemingly vacant abyssal plain. Pockets of life thrive when food is available, and often these distinct deep sea communities rely on alternate sources of chemical energy that do not originate from the sun—they have figured a way to make do with what they get. The Abyssopelagic extends from 13,100 to 19,700 feet (4,000-6,000 m) down to the seafloor or abyssal plain. Animals that can withstand the pressures in this depth, which can reach up to 600 times what is experienced at sea level are highly specialized.

Overfishing & Habitat Destruction

The deep sea is home to natural resources that have been a subject of interest since the 1970s. These include manganese nodules, which can be found on the ocean floor at a depth of more than 4,000 metres, especially in the Pacific. In addition to manganese and iron, these clumps contain valuable metals like copper, nickel and cobalt.

• The fangs actually slide into specially formed pockets in the roof of the mouth when the jaw is closed.
• Research dives by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in 2009 revealed that the fish can also rotate their eyes to face ahead, which probably helps them forage for zooplankton more accurately.
• The common fangtooth, a tiny fish with a formidable bite, is found worldwide in tropical and temperate waters between 1600 and 6500 feet below the ocean’s surface.
• The first of these larvae develop into females, with one end tunneling into the bone and forming what looks like roots growing through the bone.
• If disturbed, it will curl its arms up outwards and wrap them around its body, almost turning itself inside-out and, exposing spiny projections called cirri.

It relies on a partnership with bacteria, which produce the glow through a symbiosis scientists still don’t fully understand. Here are just a few of the remarkable creatures that haunt the ocean’s depths. According to Carranza, the data collected from the expedition will guide how Uruguay’s marine resources are managed. Currently, there is only one confirmed vulnerable marine ecosystem in Uruguay, but this 29-day expedition found evidence that more vulnerable areas exist. Sunlight cannot reach the deep ocean, except parts of the mesopelagic zone. Because many of these “underwater islands” are located in remote surroundings, studies are continually finding previously unknown and endemic species.

• The deep sea has a reputation for producing “monsters.” Headlines describe its inhabitants as “freakish” or “terrifying.” But that framing misses the point.
• Here are just a few of the remarkable creatures that haunt the ocean’s depths.
• They are quite puzzling creatures, and it’s not the first time we’ve taken a look at the goblin shark.
• Covering over 70% of the planet, the ocean is Earth’s largest life-support system, and it has already shielded us from the worst impacts of the climate crisis.
• In 1989, eleven square kilometres of the Pacific seafloor were churned up in an area roughly 650 kilometres southeast of the Galápagos Islands to simulate the mining of manganese nodules.

However, market volatility and advances in recycling could alter the feasibility of these operations. Sharks and rays are neutrally buoyant because they have large oily livers (that float) and soft watery flesh (that sink). Some bony fishes have ‘swim bladders.’ These are gas cavities that constantly have gas pumped in or out as the fish moves up and down in the water column.

For centuries, scientists assumed that the chilly deep sea was empty of life. Now we know that the deep sea (generally meaning 200 to 10,000 meters, or 650 to 32,800 feet deep) is the largest habitable place on the planet. As companies ramp up their search for minerals underwater, scientists are intensifying their efforts to document the ocean’s deepest dwellers — and investigate the impact mining operations could have on their habitats. The most important food source for deep-sea organisms is particulate organic matter, which drifts down from the surface to the seafloor and is also known as “marine snow”. From individual cells of dead plankton to clumps of algae, to whole whale cadavers – which do not count as marine snow but are instead referred to as “large foodfalls” – there are meals of all shapes and sizes. Even zooplankton excrement contains enough nutrients for other organisms to get by on.
However, mining them is a technically complex and correspondingly expensive undertaking. As such, there have only been pilot projects; there is no commercial mining network. But many countries and private companies have already applied for exploration licenses with the United Nations’ International Seabed Authority. Above all, rising water temperatures are provoking rapid responses in the deep-sea ecosystem. This can already be seen in Fram Strait between Svalbard and Greenland, where the composition of the phytoplankton has changed. Whereas, in past decades, more diatoms grew in the colder water, today you’ll find more foam algae.