10 Crazy-Looking New Deep-Sea Creatures

Most of the creatures are so strange, it is hard to know which direction they swim or where their mouths are.

The images were captured by researchers from the University of Aberdeen during more than 300 hours of diving with a remotely operated vehicle between 2,300 feet and 12,000 feet deep along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the largest mountain range on Earth, which runs down the center of the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and Africa on the east and the Americas on the west.

Three of the species, which look like colorful wavy worms, belong to a group of creatures called Enteropneust, which is believed to be the evolutionary link between backbone and invertebrate animals. Previously only a few specimens of the group, from the Pacific Ocean, were known to science..

Deap Sea Jellyfish

Trachymedusa: Feeds on plankton and small crustacea near the sea floor.

Acorn Worm

Enteropneust worm from the North Atlantic Ocean; southern purple variety: Feeds on sea-floor sediment, leaving behind variable wavy traces.

Sea Cucumber

Holothurian; Peniagone diaphana: Feeds on the sea floor, but is capable of swimming and is found on hills and valleys of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Scale Worm

Polynoid polychaete.

Acorn Worm

Enteropneust worm from the North Atlantic Ocean; northern pink variety: Feeds on sea-floor sediment leaving behind characteristic spiral traces.

Sea Cucumber

Holothurian; Amperima family: Feeds on the sea floor but is capable of swimming and is found on hills and valleys of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Comb Jelly

Bathypelagic ctenophore: Found close to the sea floor on the Mid-Atlantic ridge.

Acorn Worm

Enteropneust worm from the North Atlantic Ocean; southern white variety: Feeds on sea floor sediment and has been observed swimming.

Sea Cucumber

Holothurian; Peniagone porcella: Feeds on the sea floor but is capable of swimming and is found on hills and valleys of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Basket Star

Gorgonocephalus. A specialised starfish that captures plankton (krill) on its intricate arms.

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