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13 Criaturas Bizarras do Mar Profundo
Quando pensamos no oceano, evocamos imagens de águas calmas e azuis cheias de peixes coloridos e recifes de
coral vivos. No entanto, além do alcance da luz solar está um mundo misterioso e surreal, habitado por algumas das
criaturas mais incomuns e inspiradoras do planeta. O mar profundo é um lugar de extremos, com pressões
esmagadoras, temperaturas congelantes e uma completa ausência de luz solar. Essas condições moldaram a
evolução das criaturas do mar profundo, resultando em uma coleção de formas estranhas e únicas. Por que
passamos tanto tempo chocados com eles, em vez de ficarmos fascinados?
Em defesa das criaturas do mar profundo
A internet está cheia de artigos sobre as criaturas “abentas” do abismo do oceano – “criaturas oceânicas bizarras”,
“monstros do mar profundo”, etc. – e esse tipo de abordagem não está ajudando ninguém. O oceano profundo é um
lugar escuro, frígido e implacável, e todas as criaturas que o chamam de lar sofreram adaptações notáveis para
sobreviver e prosperar neste ambiente. Do bizarro pescador, com sua atração brilhante e dentes ameaçadores, ao
corpo delicado e translúcido da geléia do pente, todas essas criaturas encontraram uma maneira de lidar com a
pressão e o frio e estão prosperando nos oceanos profundos.
Eles podem parecer estranhos para nós na superfície, mas essas criaturas são um testemunho da resiliência da
natureza. Eles não são monstros, são exemplos de como a evolução pode preencher até mesmo os nichos de
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ecossistemas mais estranhos. Então, em vez de desfilá-los como bizarros, que tal aprendermos e tentarmos
compreendê-los e aprender com suas curiosidades? Aqui estão apenas algumas das criaturas fascinantes do mar
profundo.
1. O peixe de Angler
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Diferentes espécies de peixes-pescador. Imagem via Wiki Commons.
Você provavelmente já viu essa criatura icônica antes – eles quase se tornaram um mascote para a área abissal. No
entanto, apenas alguns deles vivem no mar profundo, enquanto outros habitam a plataforma continental. Eles são
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fortemente adaptados a pressões intensas e são tipicamente comprimidos – pelagicas formas pelágicas são mais
comprimidas lateralmente, enquanto as formas bentas são frequentemente mais comprimidas verticalmente, com
bocas longas.
Eles são chamados de “peixe de ângulo” devido às suas técnicas de caça incomuns. Eles emitem luz
(bioluminescência) para atrair peixes desavisados, que são devorados se eles chegarem perto o suficiente.
Naturalmente, não há luz nos oceanos profundos, então sua bioluminescência é realmente atraente para as vítimas.
No entanto, eles não fazem isso sozinhos: a luz é resultado de simbiose com uma bactéria, cujo mecanismo não é
totalmente compreendido.
Tudo isso já é impressionante – o fato de que no oceano escuro profundo, uma espécie de peixe abriu uma simbiose
com uma bactéria para produzir luz e atrair presas é impressionante. Mas o que realmente os torna únicos é o seu
sistema reprodutivo.
Essa coisa no círculo vermelho, é o macho. Créditos de imagem
Quando os cientistas descobriram peixes pescadores, eles ficaram bastante intrigados com o fato de que eles só
encontraram fêmeas. Para tornar as coisas ainda mais estranhas, essas fêmeas pareciam ter algum tipo de parasita
ligado a elas. Bem, aqui está o kicker: aqueles “parasitas” eram na verdade os machos!
O único propósito da vida do homem é encontrar uma hospedeira, sem a qual ele não pode sobreviver por muito
tempo. Depois que ele encontra uma fêmea, o macho morde sua pele, e os dois são “fundidos” juntos, até o ponto
em que as únicas partes discerníveis do macho são suas gutas. O macho ainda está vivo e ele compartilha o
sistema circulatório da fêmea, mas ele é basicamente um parasita que ocasionalmente paga suas dívidas,
fornecendo-lhe esperma no local para que ela possa engravidar a si mesma. Isso é chamado de reprodução
parasitária. Esse dimorfismo sexual extremo garante que, quando a fêmea está pronta para se reproduzir, ela tem
um companheiro imediatamente disponível, algo que pode ser bastante difícil no mar profundo. Ela também não
precisa gastar recursos adicionais para encontrar um tapete – recursos escassos nesse ambiente.
Nem todos os peixes pescadores exibem esse sistema de reprodução extremamente incomum; muitas famílias e
gêneros exibem reprodução “normal”. Não está claro por que isso acontece, mas existem várias teorias. Aqui está
uma delas: as fêmeas têm que permanecer maiores para acomodar a fecundidade; portanto, nos confins do oceano,
há uma baixa densidade de fêmeas. Portanto, os machos tinham muito pouca escolha quando se tratava de
escolher um companheiro. Em tal ambiente, a evolução os faria tornar cada vez menores e evolui métodos mais
avançados e sofisticados de encontrar um parceiro. Se um macho consegue encontrar um apego parasitário
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelagic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benthic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioluminescence
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http://cugau85.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/angler-fish-male.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_dimorphism
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feminino, então é mais provável que melhore a vida em relação à vida útil. Em outras palavras, ele seria mais bem
sucedido (ter mais descendentes), e assim a técnica se espalharia naturalmente.
2. O blobfish
O blobfish. Créditos da imagem: Wiki Commons.
Declarou-se extraoficialmente “o animal mais feio do mundo”, o blobfish é realmente muito interessante. Eles
habitam as águas profundas da Austrália, Nova Zelândia e Tasmânia, vivendo a profundidades de 600 a 1200
metros (2000 – 4000 pés). Nessa profundidade, a pressão é dezenas de vezes maior do que na superfície e,
portanto, as bexigas gasosas, que os peixes normalmente usam para nadar, seriam ineficientes.
As bexigas de gás são órgãos internos cheios de gás que contribuem para a capacidade de um peixe controlar sua
flutuabilidade, flutuando para cima ou para baixo com relativa facilidade. O blobfish encontrou uma alternativa para
isso: sua carne é basicamente uma massa gelatinosa com uma densidade um pouco menor que a água; isso
permite que o peixe flutue acima do fundo do mar sem gastar energia na natação. Ele pode ser preguiçoso, mas ele
é bastante eficiente – e há uma razão pela qual ele se parece com isso.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blobfish
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Representação artística; é assim que o blobfish se parece em seu ambiente natural. Fonte: Wikipedia.
Quando debaixo d'água, a pressões imensas, o blobfish parece bem diferente. A pressão mantém seu corpo
parecendo o que você vê acima. Quando você o tira, ele começa a inchar devido à descompressão. Eu diria que, em
seu habitat natural, ele é um sujeito bastante bacana.
Em setembro de 2013, o blobfish foi eleito o “animal mais feio do mundo”, baseado em fotografias de espécimes
descomprimidos, e adotado como mascote da Sociedade de Preservação Animal de Ugly, em uma iniciativa para
ajudar a preservar os animais que não foram abençoados com o que nós, humanos, acreditamos ser “fofa”.
The blobfish deserves more. It deserves our appreciation.
3. The goblin shark
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http://uglyanimalsoc.com/
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The goblin shark is a very rare and poorly understood animal — arguably the least understood shark species. The
goblin shark is the only survivor of a family called Mitsukurinidae,a lineage some 125 million years old. They are
quite puzzling creatures, and it’s not the first time we’ve taken a look at the goblin shark.
While you could see some resemblance to other shark species, this animal has its own striking particularities. It is
usually between 3 and 4 meters long when mature, though it can grow much larger than that (it’s not exactly clear just
how much); you shouldn’t worry, however, because they live at over 100 meters deep, with mature specimens living
way deeper than that.
https://cdn.zmescience.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/ocean-creatures-goblin-shark.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goblin_shark
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsukurinidae
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Various anatomical features of the goblin shark, such as its flabby body and small fins, suggest that it is sluggish in
nature. they have a very reduced skeleton and weak muscles. Therefore it is not a particularly fast swimmer. It’s
probably a stalker, relying on ambush tactics to hunt. The long snout appears to have a sensory function, detecting
electric fields from other creatures.
They don’t survive on the surface, despite Japanese attempts at keeping them in special aquariums. Hopefully, these
attempts will subside.
4. Gulper eel
Image via Wiki Commons.
The Gulper eel is another poorly understood species. They are superficially similar to other eel species but have
many internal differences. Their most notable attribute is the big mouth — bigger than the rest of the body. The mouth
is loosely hinged and can be opened wide enough to swallow an animal much larger than itself; however, it usually
only eats small crustaceans.
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Not much is known about the reproductive habits of the gulper eel. We do know that as they mature, the males
undergo a change that causes enlargement of the olfactory organs, responsible for the sense of smell, and
degeneration of the teeth and jaws — they give up on some hunting abilities in order to be more successful in finding
a mate.
The gulper (or pelican eel) lives deep undersea, at depths between 150-1,800 meters (500 to 6,000 feet). It also has
a long whip-like tail that it uses for movement and for communication via bioluminescence. The tail serves as a
complex organ with numerous tentacles, that glows pink and gives off occasional bright-red flashes, presumably also
to attract prey. 
5. Barrel Eye
Image via WikiCommons.
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The Barrel Eye is an incredible species named for its barrel-shaped, tubular eyes, which are generally directed
upwards to detect the silhouettes of available prey. The eyes can also turn forward.
Image via Wiki Commons. 
To better serve their vision, barreleyes have large, dome-shaped, transparent heads, arguably allowing them to
collect any bit of light that might stumble their way, which is crucial at the depths they inhabit: 400–2.500 m deep.
They reproduce by massively ejecting eggs and sperm, which are buoyant. The larvae and juveniles drift with the
currents — likely at much shallower depths than the adults, and as they grow, they drift deeper.
6. The Dumbo Octopus
Image credits: MBARI.
The Dumbo octopus looks like, well, you could say it looks like Dumbo, Disney’s elephant… except it doesn’t. It is
one of the deepest living octopuses, inhabiting the oceans at depths between 3,000 and 7,000 meters (9,800 to
23,000 feet). There are 17 species recognized in the genus
They can flush the transparent layer of their skin at will and are pelagic animals, measuring under 2 meters (7 feet).
The Dumbo octopus consumes food in a unique way: it swallows it whole, which differs from the way all other
octopuses do it. Unlike other octopus species, it does not have an ink sack and is also uncapable of changing color.
Researchers aren’t sure how it avoids or escapes predators at all.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelagic
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7. The Giant Isopod
Image via Wiki Commons.
Let’s change things up a little and look at this species — well, group of species actually. A giant isopod is any of the
almost 20 species of large isopod related to shrimps and crabs. They average between 20-36 centimeters (0.75 – 1.1
feet), but can occasionally grow beyond that. They have seven pairs of legs, the first of which are modified into
maxillipeds (leg-like mouthparts) to manipulate and bring food to the four sets of jaws. They’re pretty similar in
appearance and overall behavior.
Image via Wiki Commons.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decapod_anatomy
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They’re also “living fossils” like the goblin shark — similar creatures were found in the fossil record 160 million years
ago. They can be found on the bottom of deep seas scavenging any food that may fall from the shallow waters or
hunting anything that’s smaller or slower than them. When they find abundant food, they can gorge themselves to the
point of compromising their locomotive ability.
Unfortunately for them, food is not very abundant in their natural environment — and they have to spend a lot of time
finding it.
8. Stargazer
Image via Wiki Commons.
Unlike many of the creatures here, the fish commonly called “stargazer” also live in more shallow areas. The family
includes about 51 species and have a distinguishable upward-facing mouth.
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Image via Wiki Commons. 
They usually bury themselves in the sand and leap upwards to attack their prey as it swims by. The thing is, even if
they’re not directly successful, they are poisonous and can track their injured prey down. Also, they are able to deliver
electric shocks to stun their prey. They are some of the few marine bioelectrogenic bony fishes.
9. The Hatchetfish
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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.
They are small deep-sea fishes that have evolved a peculiar body shape. Their body is very compressed laterally,
somewhat resembling a hatchet, hence the name. Given the depths at which they live (50-1,500 meters), their tiny
bodies have adapted to the pressure. 
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Image credits: NOAA.
They may look scary, but when you look at them, don’t forget that they’re really small in size, almost never measuring
over 10 centimeters. Their scales are delicate and silvery.
The marine hatchet fish is also endowed with bioluminescent properties, which allow it to evade predators lurking in
the depths below — it’s more of a defensive ability rather than an offensive one. It uses a technique called counter-
illumination that enables it to match the light intensity with the background. 
10. The Chimaera
Chimaeras are cartilaginous fishes. Wait a minute: sharks are cartilaginous fishes, and the chimeras do look like
sharks, so aren’t they sharks? Well no— not really. Based on the fossil record, scientists believe that they were once
really abundant in shallow waters as well, but now, they’re mostly reserved for deep waters. They became genetically
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separated from sharks nearly 400 million years ago and have remained isolated ever since. You could say that
they’re more closely related to sharks than fish, however.
Deep-sea chimera photographed by the NOAAS Okeanos Explorer. Visible on its snout
are tiny pores that lead to electroreceptor cells.
They live in temperate ocean floors down to 2,600 m (8,500 ft) deep, with few occurring at depths shallower than 200
m (660 ft). They lack sharks’ many sharp and replaceable teeth, having instead just three pairs of large permanent
grinding tooth plates, and they are the only vertebrates to retain traces of a third pair of limbs. Not all of them look as
eccentric as the one above, though. Some species, such as the one above, have modified their snouts, transforming
them into sensory organs capable to detect prey by sensing its electrical field.
11. The Colossal Squid
Not to be confused with the Giant Squid, the Colossal Squid is the largest squid species, growing up to 12–14 m (39–
46 ft) long. It is also the largest known invertebrate.
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There are not many pictures of actual colossal squids. This is the
largest cephalopod ever recorded. Here it is shown in its live state
during capture, with the delicate red skin still intact and the mantle
characteristically inflated.
Not much is known about them, but they dwell at depths ranging from a few hundred meters to at least 2.200
kilometers. They are so big that they probably caused the belief in the Kraken — a legendary sea monster of giant
proportions that is said to dwell off the coasts of Norway and Greenland. They are the preferred prey of a number of
whales.
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Yep, they can grow this big — actually, way bigger.
They have a small metabolic rate and probably rely on ambush to hunt their prey, using their big eyes to scout. The
method of reproduction was not observed, but it is known that females are much larger than males, something not
uncommon in invertebrates.
12. The Dragonfish
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Deep-sea dragonfish with transparent teeth. Photos by David Baillot/UC San Diego Jacobs School of
Engineering.
Dragonfish are small deep sea creatures. While they may look extremely fierce and dangerous, they measure only
10-20 centimeters. However, while they are usually found at depths of 2 kilometers, they start their life near the
surface, as their eggs are buoyant.
Like many other deep sea creatures, it eventually becomes capable of producing its own light through
bioluminescence when it is ready to move on to the deep sea. One of its many light-producing photophores can be
found on a barbel attached to its lower jaw, which it most likely uses for hunting. I’m a broken record, I know — but
not much is known about this species.
Remarkably, recent research has found that these deepsea creatures even camouflage their teeth, making them
transparent — and they do this by using nanocrystals.
13. The Fangtooth
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https://www.zmescience.com/feature-post/natural-sciences/animals/fish/dragonfish-small-yet-mighty-predators-of-the-twilight-zone/
https://www.britannica.com/science/photophore
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Image credits: Brian Suda.
They are among the deepest-living fish, found as far as 5,000 m (16,400 ft) down. They sometimes hunt in small
groups, but more often they do so alone. However, they’re not the most perceptive creatures, relying on luck to bump
into something edible. The smaller teeth and longer gill rakers of juveniles suggest they feed primarily by filtering
zooplankton from the water.
They’re also small, rarely growing over 20 centimeters, and like many miniature beasts of the abyss, they feature
disproportionately large teeth. The function of these teeth is offensive – basically, in the extremely harsh environment
in which they live, anything must be considered a meal — or a predator. Big teeth equal big weapons. The fangtooth
has proportionately the largest teeth of any fish in the ocean — but still, even if, in all absurdity, they would stumble
upon a human, they would be pretty harmless.
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Image credits: Southern California Academy of Sciences (image from 1971).
Fangtooths are known to be robust when compared to many other deep-sea fish, surviving for months when captured
and placed in aquariums. Again, I really wish that people would stop trying to take these fish out of their environments
and put them somewhere on display. They can’t survive this treatment, and it’s a slow, painful end for the unfortunate
creatures.
These are just a few of the fascinating creatures that inhabit the deep sea. Hopefully, if this article has fulfilled its
purpose, you understand that they are not monsters or freaks — they are adapted to their extreme environment
(hundreds of bars of pressure, small amounts of oxygen, very little food, no sunlight, and constant, extreme cold).
Extreme environments require extreme adaptations. Many of them rely on food falling from above, and for them,
there are mostly two types of creatures: things you can eat, or things that can eat you. Sometimes it’s hard to draw a
line between the two.
Humans have explored less than 2% of the ocean floor, and dozens of new species of deep-sea creatures are
discovered with every dive.
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