Nemertea is a phylum of animals also known as ribbon worms or proboscis worms, consisting of 1300 known species. Most ribbon worms are very slim, usually only a few millimeters wide, although a few have relatively short but wide bodies. Many have patterns of yellow, orange, red and green coloration. The foregut, stomach and intestine run a little below the midline of the body, the anus is at the tip of the tail, and the mouth is under the front. A little above the gut is the rhynchocoel, a cavity which mostly runs above the midline and ends a little short of the rear of the body. All species have a proboscis which lies in the rhynchocoel when inactive but everts to emerge just above the mouth to capture the animal's prey with venom. A highly extensible muscle in the back of the rhynchocoel pulls the proboscis in when an attack ends. A few species with stubby bodies filter feed and have suckers at the front and back ends, with which they attach to a host.
Risso's dolphin is a dolphin, the only species of the genus Grampus. Some of the closest related species to these dolphins include: pilot whales, pygmy killer whales, melon-headed whales, and false killer whales.
Latimeria is a rare genus of fish which contains the only living species of coelacanth. It includes two extant species: the West Indian Ocean coelacanth and the Indonesian coelacanth. They follow the oldest known living lineage of Sarcopterygii, which means they are more closely related to lungfish and tetrapods than to the common ray-finned fishes and cartilaginous fishes.
Lancetfishes are large oceanic predatory fishes in the genus Alepisaurus in the monogeneric family Alepisauridae.
Oarfish are large, greatly elongated, pelagic lampriform fish belonging to the small family Regalecidae. Found in areas spanning from temperate ocean zones to tropical ones, yet rarely seen, the oarfish family contains three species in two genera. One of these, the giant oarfish, is the longest bony fish alive, growing up to 17 m (56 ft) in length.
The fish family Psychrolutidae contains over 35 recognized species in 8 genera. This family consists of bottom-dwelling marine sculpins shaped like tadpoles, with large heads and bodies that taper back into small, flat tails. The skin is loosely attached and movable, and the layer underneath it is gelatinous. The eyes are placed high on the head, focused forward closer to the tip of the snout. Members of the family generally have large, leaf-like pectoral fins and lack scales, although some species are covered with soft spines. This is important to the species as the depths in which they live are highly pressurized and they are ambush/opportunistic/foraging predators that do not expend energy unless they are forced to.
The squashed face rattail is a rattail of the genus Nezumia, found around New South Wales, Australia, and New Zealand, at depths of between 1,250 and 1,300 m. Its length is about 35 cm.
Psychrolutes marcidus, the smooth-head blobfish, also known simply as blobfish, is a deep-sea fish of the family Psychrolutidae. It inhabits the deep waters off the coasts of mainland Australia and Tasmania, as well as the waters of New Zealand.
Helicolenus percoides, the reef ocean perch, coral cod, coral perch, Jock Stewart, kuriarki, ocean perch, red gurnard perch, red gurnard scorpionfish, red ocean perch, red perch, red rock perch, scarpee or sea perch, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Sebastinae, part of the family Scorpaenidae. It is found in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.
The slender smooth-hound or gollumshark is a species of ground shark in the family Pseudotriakidae. It is endemic to the waters around New Zealand, where it is usually found close to the bottom over the continental slope at depths of 300–600 m (980–1,970 ft). An extremely slim, plain brownish shark reaching 1.1 m (3.6 ft) in length, the slender smooth-hound can be identified by its broad, flattened head with a long, distinctively bell-shaped snout. Its mouth is angular with short furrows at the corners, and contains a very high number of tooth rows in both jaws. Its two dorsal fins are roughly equal in size.
Psychrolutes is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Psychrolutidae, the fatheads and toadfishes. Though found predominantly in the deep sea, a handful of species are present in the intertidal regions of the North Pacific rim. In June 2003, During the NORFANZ Expedition north-west of New Zealand, scientists trawled a specimen of P. microporos at a depth between 1,013 metres (3,323 ft) and 1,340 metres (4,400 ft) on the Norfolk Ridge.
The blob sculpin is a species of deep-sea fish of the family Psychrolutidae. It feeds mainly on crustaceans, molluscs, and sea pens.
Cirroteuthis muelleri, also known as the big-finned jellyhead, was the first cirrate octopus species to be scientifically described. It is closely related to the genus Cirrothauma within the family Cirroteuthidae. At present the genus contains a single recognized species restricted to the Arctic Ocean and northern basins of the Atlantic and Pacific, but other species may be present in the southern hemisphere.
Parin's spinyfin, Parin's spinyfish, black discfish, black spinyfin, or spiny discfish is a spinyfin of the monotypic genus Diretmichthys. Adults are found in oceans at depths of between 500 m to 2100 m. Its length is up to 40 cm.
Illex coindetii, commonly known as the southern shortfin squid or broadtail shortfin squid, is a species of neritic squids in the family Ommastrephidae. They are found in the Mediterranean Sea and on both sides of the north Atlantic Ocean.
Joseph (Joe) Schieser Nelson was a Canadian ichthyologist. He is best known for the book Fishes of the World, which is the standard reference in fish systematics and evolution.
The Ugly Animal Preservation Society is a comedy night with a conservation twist founded in Great Britain by biologist, writer and TV presenter Simon Watt to raise the profile of animal species which lack traditional aesthetically appealing characteristics. In part it is based on the belief that conservation of charismatic megafauna like pandas attract disproportionate amounts of funding that could be better spent elsewhere. The organisation aims to protect less attractive animals such as the proboscis monkey which also face threats.
Pseudoliparis swirei, the Mariana snailfish or Mariana hadal snailfish, is a species of snailfish found at hadal depths in the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean. It is known from a depth range of 6,198–8,076 m (20,335–26,496 ft), including a capture at 7,966 m (26,135 ft), which is possibly the record for a fish caught on the seafloor. Various anatomical, physiological, molecular and genetic adaptions help this species survive in such depths.
The Galápagos ghostshark is a chimaera species in the family Chimaeridae, likely endemic to the Galápagos Islands. It was discovered by John E. McCosker in 1995 and described in 2006, scientifically named in honor of McCosker. This chimaera has a brown compressed, elongate body. The holotype and paratype of the species, both juvenile females, had a total length of 38.1 centimetres (15.0 in) and 22.7 centimetres (8.9 in), respectively. It lives in rocky habitats close to the sea floor, in waters about 395–510 metres (1,296–1,673 ft) deep. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List.
The cuskpout is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts. It is the only species in the monospecific genus Derepodichthys and is found in the eastern North Pacific Ocean.
