"Why Animals Get Creepier the Deeper You Go
Real Science
The Deep Dark Sea
Not all of the darkest, strangest corners of the universe are in some distant galaxy millions of light years
away. In fact, the most mysterious of these dark places is right here on Earth. A place with no sunlight,
crushing pressure, and near-freezing temperatures is not the desolate wasteland that one might expect it
to be. It is instead populated with a huge variety of life, life that takes shape in ways that our terrestrial
minds can barely comprehend.
Some creatures of the deep have enormous, piercing eyes, others have no eyes at all, and others still have
eyes inside their transparent domed heads. Others glow for defense or predation, and at these depths
where photosynthesis cannot occur, the food chain becomes a little unpredictable. Some creatures
typically classified as filter feeders have even evolved to become unlikely, terrifying carnivores. Others
become such effective predators that their mouths are bigger than the rest of their entire body or have
teeth that pierce the darkness in every direction. From the ethereal to the spooky, the dark sea holds a
world of adaptations that jars the imagination, and the deeper you go, the creepier it seems to get.
The Twilight Zone
The uppermost layer of the deep sea is the mesopelagic, aka the twilight zone, and it extends from 200
meters to a thousand meters. A little bit of light still penetrates at these depths, but not much. The very
first color to disappear is red because it has the longest wavelength and the least energy of the visible
spectrum, and a lot of creatures that spend time in the twilight zone use this to their advantage, evolving
to be shades of red that render them practically invisible at these depths. Enter the vampire squid.
Catching a glimpse of it in the lights of a submersible, you might understand why it got such a ghastly
name. On top of its red skin, it has enormous eyes that seem to glow and spine-like protrusions from its
tentacles all give it a far more fearsome look than the cephalopods of shallower waters. But just as its red
color seems eerie to us but has a vital evolutionary purpose, so too do its other sinister-looking features.
Despite its spooky name, vampire squid are not actually bloodthirsty hunters. Unlike almost all other
cephalopods, this creature is a detrivore. It gets almost all of its calories from marine snow.
Marine snow is particulate matter that trickles down from higher up in the ocean and is made of decaying
crustaceans, zooplankton, larvaceans, diatoms, and fecal matter.
The vampire squid has four arm pairs with finger-like tendrils called siri plus two long retractable
filaments. It sits practically motionless around depths of 600 to 900 meters, slowly collecting marine snow
on its mucous-laden filaments and slurping it down. Scientists were surprised to discover that marine
snow has a pretty high nutritional value, but the vampire squid still doesn't have a whole lot of energy to
expend. They get by thanks to having a suppressed metabolism, much lower than any other cephalopod of
a comparable size.
The Big Fin Squid
As you descend deeper, the cephalopods become even more terrifying. The genus Magnapina, or the big
fin squid, are thought to be the deepest occurring squid genus with sightings as deep as 6212 meters. This
makes the big fin squid the only known squid to occupy the hadle zone, the deepest region of the ocean.
Their arms and tentacles can be up to eight meters long and are usually held at disconcerting right angles,
the squid giving itself the appearance of having elbows, and its translucent, shimmering mantle makes the
creatures seem completely otherworldly.
Little is known about the feeding behavior of these squids. Scientists have speculated that they might use
their long arms by dragging them along the sea floor and grabbing whatever edible organisms that they
can. Alternatively, the arms might passively grab food such as zooplankton or bits of marine snow. But in
an environment without any plant life to form the base of the food chain, being a detrivore is far from the
only strategy. In fact, a number of organisms that are herbivores or filter feeders in shallower parts of the
ocean become carnivores in the deep sea. That's the case with the predatory tunicate.
Real Science
The Deep Dark Sea
Not all of the darkest, strangest corners of the universe are in some distant galaxy millions of light years
away. In fact, the most mysterious of these dark places is right here on Earth. A place with no sunlight,
crushing pressure, and near-freezing temperatures is not the desolate wasteland that one might expect it
to be. It is instead populated with a huge variety of life, life that takes shape in ways that our terrestrial
minds can barely comprehend.
Some creatures of the deep have enormous, piercing eyes, others have no eyes at all, and others still have
eyes inside their transparent domed heads. Others glow for defense or predation, and at these depths
where photosynthesis cannot occur, the food chain becomes a little unpredictable. Some creatures
typically classified as filter feeders have even evolved to become unlikely, terrifying carnivores. Others
become such effective predators that their mouths are bigger than the rest of their entire body or have
teeth that pierce the darkness in every direction. From the ethereal to the spooky, the dark sea holds a
world of adaptations that jars the imagination, and the deeper you go, the creepier it seems to get.
The Twilight Zone
The uppermost layer of the deep sea is the mesopelagic, aka the twilight zone, and it extends from 200
meters to a thousand meters. A little bit of light still penetrates at these depths, but not much. The very
first color to disappear is red because it has the longest wavelength and the least energy of the visible
spectrum, and a lot of creatures that spend time in the twilight zone use this to their advantage, evolving
to be shades of red that render them practically invisible at these depths. Enter the vampire squid.
Catching a glimpse of it in the lights of a submersible, you might understand why it got such a ghastly
name. On top of its red skin, it has enormous eyes that seem to glow and spine-like protrusions from its
tentacles all give it a far more fearsome look than the cephalopods of shallower waters. But just as its red
color seems eerie to us but has a vital evolutionary purpose, so too do its other sinister-looking features.
Despite its spooky name, vampire squid are not actually bloodthirsty hunters. Unlike almost all other
cephalopods, this creature is a detrivore. It gets almost all of its calories from marine snow.
Marine snow is particulate matter that trickles down from higher up in the ocean and is made of decaying
crustaceans, zooplankton, larvaceans, diatoms, and fecal matter.
The vampire squid has four arm pairs with finger-like tendrils called siri plus two long retractable
filaments. It sits practically motionless around depths of 600 to 900 meters, slowly collecting marine snow
on its mucous-laden filaments and slurping it down. Scientists were surprised to discover that marine
snow has a pretty high nutritional value, but the vampire squid still doesn't have a whole lot of energy to
expend. They get by thanks to having a suppressed metabolism, much lower than any other cephalopod of
a comparable size.
The Big Fin Squid
As you descend deeper, the cephalopods become even more terrifying. The genus Magnapina, or the big
fin squid, are thought to be the deepest occurring squid genus with sightings as deep as 6212 meters. This
makes the big fin squid the only known squid to occupy the hadle zone, the deepest region of the ocean.
Their arms and tentacles can be up to eight meters long and are usually held at disconcerting right angles,
the squid giving itself the appearance of having elbows, and its translucent, shimmering mantle makes the
creatures seem completely otherworldly.
Little is known about the feeding behavior of these squids. Scientists have speculated that they might use
their long arms by dragging them along the sea floor and grabbing whatever edible organisms that they
can. Alternatively, the arms might passively grab food such as zooplankton or bits of marine snow. But in
an environment without any plant life to form the base of the food chain, being a detrivore is far from the
only strategy. In fact, a number of organisms that are herbivores or filter feeders in shallower parts of the
ocean become carnivores in the deep sea. That's the case with the predatory tunicate.
