New translucent fish at bottom of the ocean has been discovered.

Unnamed fish referred to only by color

 Showing just how unknown the ocean remains, three new species of fish have been discovered in the depths of the Pacific Ocean. Forty scientists from 17 different nations went looking deep in the Atacama Trench and came back with snailfish species never seen before.

Right now, they're being named after their colors — pink, blue and purple — but as part of the Liparidae family, they'll be given scientific names soon enough in academic papers.

Looking over 4 1/2 miles below the surface, the scientists found fish that do not adhere to any preconceived notions of what deep-sea fish should look like. They're small, translucent and don't have any scales.

“There is something about the snailfish that allows them to adapt to living very deep," says Thomas Linley, from Newcastle University, who participated in the study. "Beyond the reach of other fish they are free of competitors and predators."

You can watch a video of the fish here.

“As the footage clearly shows, there are lots of invertebrate prey down there and the snailfish are the top predator, they seem to be quite active and look very well-fed," Linley says.

“Their gelatinous structure means they are perfectly adapted to living at extreme pressure, and in fact the hardest structures in their bodies are the bones in their inner ear, which give them balance, and their teeth. Without the extreme pressure and cold to support their bodies, they are extremely fragile and melt rapidly when brought to the surface.”

Finding fish in the Atacama Trench, 3,728 miles long and over 5 miles deep along the coast of Peru and Chile, is no easy task. The team used two landers equipped with HD cameras and traps. These landers were dropped off the side of a boat and left to free-fall to the ocean floor, a process that took around four hours.

Giving the landers 12 to 24 hours to collect samples, the scientists then triggered an acoustic signal to the landers which caused them to release their weights. Floating up to the surface, the landers were able to catch fish specimens and capture video footage of life at the bottom of the ocean.

But even at that depth, the fish still face human interference in their lives (beyond the scientific study). The snailfish diet includes amphipods, tiny crustaceans that are known to hold microplastics. Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastics that scientists have shown are infiltrating every level of the ocean.

“They would not be spared any impact we have on a global scale,” Linley tells Earther.

Living Fossil Captured... Son Of Ah!

So your snorkeling off the coast of Australia, you come around a coral reef, and you see this!

Its Godzilla's newest Nemesis for the next upcoming Hollywood flick right?


Oh no folks.... this prehistoric creature is the real deal, and it was recently caught off the south-eastern coast of Victoria, Australia.



What your seeing, that mouth, nothing major its just full of 300 razor sharp teeth in 25 rows just waiting to make jaws look like child's play.  Or the tooth fairies ultimate score... before being swallowed whole.

Its actually called a frilled shark, named for its six pairs of frill-like gills. It’s also known as the “living fossil” because of its prehistoric features that resemble an eel or serpent more than a shark.

The species (Chlamydoselachus anguineus) is known but has rarely if ever been seen alive, so this was truly an exciting find.

The species was first discovered around 1880 and sightings have been rare.

Before you breath a sigh of relief, their range is worldwide, with evidence of their existence found in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans along the coasts of northern Norway, northern Scotland, western Ireland, France, Morocco, Brazil, Chile, West Africa, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. coastal areas of New England and California.

 

Article is by Jason Mansfield: Anomalous Environmental Studies Analyst™ found at www.hauntedarkansas.net, Voice Over Artist, Film Maker/ Prop Designer/ Creative Consultant/ Concept Artist at Binary Entertainment www.binaryentertainment.com, Folklorist, Horror Enthusiast, Writer, Squatchologist™, Legend Hunter & Oddity Tripper™ #BlogOfOdd #WhatTheFringe #OddityTrippers

Unknown Creature Found, New Discovery or Killer Whale

The unknown beast washed onto shore in the Bay of Plenty after storms pounded the coast of New Zealand.  It's remains are being tested to determine exactly what it is.

A YouTube video filmed by Elizabeth Ann on Pukehina Beach shows the half-buried head of the carcass with jagged teeth and gaping jaws.

The mysterious sea creature is estimated to be approx. 30-foot long and mostly buried under the sand on the New Zealand beach in the Bay of Plenty. Only its head and what appear to be flippers are visible.
A close up of the monstrous mouth is full of jagged teeth. 

One marine expert believes the carcass is that of a killer whale, an animal that is commonly found around the Bay of Plenty, the location where the beast was found.

The creature's mouth, and skin around it resemble a bizarre prehistoric beast. Other suggestions as to what creature is include a giant moray eel and a saltwater crocodile, a dolphin or a dinosaur. 

 

Photos of the animal have been sent to the New Zealand Department of Conservation and Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium for identification.

Further tests are being carried out to confirm its identity.

Article is by Jason Mansfield: Paranormal Investigator with Paranormal Studies of Arkansas found at www.hauntedarkansas.net, Voice Over Artist, Film maker at Binary Entertainment www.binaryentertainment.com, Folklorist, Horror Enthusiast, Writer, & Legend Hunter

Huge Jellyfish discovered that is 5 ft across "That's A Huge Bitch!"

Scientists are now scrambling to study a new species of jellyfish that are washing up on beaches on the Island of Tasmania. It would appear the Giant five foot is an unidentified species that is not currently classified.

The species started showing up in southern Tasmania this summer, baffling scientists after one washed ashore. 

Dr. Gershwin with the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization "Say that three times fast" Dr. Gershwin with the (ACSIRO) have studied the remains of the mysterious creature and are awaiting the new species classification and name.



So I have to ask, if one of these stings you on the foot.... do you have a friend pee on it? or due to its size (the jelly fish) would it take more than one friend to neutralize the toxin with urine?



Post is by Jason Mansfield: Paranormal Investigator with Paranormal Studies of Arkansas found at www.hauntedarkansas.net, Voice Over Artist for several Paranormal Radio Shows, Film maker at Binary Entertainment www.binaryentertainment.com, Folklorist, Writer, & Legend Hunter

Ancient "Swamp Monster" Discovered; Texas

Skulls of a 17-foot-long, crocodile-like creature have been discovered.

The skull of the phytosaur Machaeroprosopus lottorum.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF MUSEUM OF TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY ©2014  

 

Scientists say the fossils of an ancient "swamp monster" that roamed the wilds of West Texas are those of a new species.

According to the study, the roughly 17-foot-long monster lurked in swamps during the Triassic period, when West Texas was a tropical rain forest lush with tall ferns and conifers.
 

With its 2-foot-long snout, Machaeroprosopus lottorum would have resembled—and acted like—a modern-day gharial, ambushing prey such as fish and amphibians from beneath the water.
 

Paleontologists dubbed the ancient creature M. lottorum after the Lott family, which owns the Texas Panhandle ranch where the two skulls were discovered in the summer of 2001. The first skull the scientists found wasn't well preserved, but a few weeks later, when Doug Cunningham, a field research assistant at the Museum of Texas Tech University and co-author of the study, dug up the second skull, they were shocked.
 

When other paleontologists began studying the skulls, says study co-author Bill Mueller, assistant curator of paleontology at the museum, they noticed something that suggested these phytosaurs were a new species: An opening at the top of the skull, called the supratemporal fenestra, was located in a different place than on known phytosaurs.

However, much of what's assumed about phytosaurs is speculation, as only a few skeletons have ever been found. If paleontologists could find an intact one, they could confirm if it really was a swamp-dweller by measuring its legs: Short, squat limbs would mean it lived in water.

Their wish may be granted: Study co-author Mueller said his team just found a huge phytosaur skull that's now being excavated.

For the full story see the source : http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140131-swamp-monster-paleontology-animals-ancient-science/

 

Bizarre, see-through sea creature baffles angler

Sea creature called a Salpa maggiore; photo from Caters News Agency and used with permission

Sea creature called a Salpa maggiore; photo from Caters News Agency and used with permission

A fisherman in waters north of New Zealand came across an odd-looking, translucent sea creature swimming on the surface. Curious, he caught the creature—presumably scooping it up with a net—to get a closer look.
It was described as a see-through, shrimp-like creature by the U.K. MailOnline.
“It felt scaly and was quite firm, almost jelly like, and you couldn’t see anything inside aside from this orange little blob inside it,” fisherman Stewart Fraser told MailOnline.
Fraser, who had been fishing with sons Conaugh and Finn 43 miles north of the Karikari Peninsula, took photos and shared them with his fishing buddies, none of whom could identify the sea creature.
“We have no idea what it could have been, but it was quite something, and I’d never seen anything like it before,” he said.
Fortunately, the folks at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth, U.K., had an idea, identifying it as a Salpa maggiore (Salpa maxima).
Paul Cox, director of conservation and communication at the aquarium, told MailOnline that a salp is barrel-shaped, moves by pumping water through its gelatinous body, and that the life-cycle includes alternate generations of existing as solitary individuals or as a group forming long chains.
“In common with other defenseless animals that occupy open water—jellies and hydroids, for example—the translucence presumably provides some protection from predation,” Cox told MailOnline. “Being see-through is a pretty good camouflage in water.”
The report doesn’t say, but it is presumed Fraser threw the bizarre sea creature back into the ocean.

Sea creature called a Salpa maggiore; photo from Caters News Agency and used with permission

Original Source: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/01/see-through-sea-creature-fish-new-zealand/

Bizarre Giant squid caught: Real Sea Monster dies soon after capture.

A giant squid caught off the waters of Japan this week has the world buzzing at this bizarre creature, with some photos of the alien-like squid making it look like a real monster of the deep.

Known as a legendary sea swimmer and something that is uncommonly captured by humans, the netting was a major ordeal, though the animal died soon after it was brought to the surface.

The Huffington Post shares the latest on this unique find this Monday, Jan. 13, 2014.
The giant squid caught near Sadogashima Island in the Niigata Prefecture of Japan earlier this month is true to its name, weighing over 350 pounds and being just under 14 feet long. The strange-looking cephalopod is a new sight to many humans’ eyes, and new photos and video of the squid before, during, and after its big capture reveal its massive size and deep-sea looks.

Possessing no less than eight arms covered in suckers, a slippery form, and giant eyes, it is little surprise that this bizarre squid has been the inspiration for nightmares of many a seafarer for decades upon decades. The man who made the huge catch, Shigenori Gato, claims that he saw the giant squid early in the morning late last week. It was said to be alive when he caught it, but died shortly after being brought to the surface.

“When I hauled up the net, the squid slowly came floating up,” Goto said, according to sources from the Daily Press. “This is the first time I’ve seen such a large squid.”

If the discovery indeed turns out to be a giant squid caught in such rare and fresh condition, it could mean very big things for biological researchers, particularly those wanting to learn more about the anatomy of these bizarre sea creatures.

Known far and wide as the biggest invertebrate on our entire planet, this monster at full maturity can weigh over 500 pounds and grow up to nearly 30 feet. These elusive creatures are hard to track in their natural habitats due to their reclusive nature and mysterious living patterns, but such a find means that Mr. Goto of Japan certainly had one highly unusual, if perhaps not altogether successful, day out on the water.

Original Source: http://www.examiner.com/article/giant-squid-caught-bizarre-squid-a-real-monster-animal-died-soon-after-capture
 

Ogopogo: Canada's Loch Ness Monster

Lake Okanagan is a long, narrow lake in British Columbia, Canada. Credit: Benjamin Radford. View full size image

Scotland's Loch Ness may have the fame as far as lake monsters go, but for many monster searchers (often dubbed cryptozoologists), Ogopogo — a creature said to lurk in Canada's Lake Okanagan — is the most likely and best documented of all lake monsters.
For cryptozoologists like John Kirk of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, "The catalogue of films and video of Ogopogo are more numerous and of better quality than anything I have personally seen at Loch Ness and I believe that several of them are very persuasive that a large, living, unknown creature inhabits the lake."

Early Indian legends

There are dozens of reputed lake monsters around the world, but what makes Ogopogo especially interesting is its previous incarnation, according to legend, as a bloodthirsty killer. Ogopogo, some believe, has its roots in native Canadian Indian legends of a beast called N'ha-a-itk (also spelled Naitaka) that would demand a live sacrifice from travelers for safe passage across Lake Okanagan. Hundreds of years ago, whenever Indians would venture into the lake, they brought chickens or other small animals to kill and drop into the water to assure a safe journey.

 

It's clear, however, that these stories were not referring to a literal lake monster like Ogopogo, but instead to a legendary water spirit. Though the supernatural N'ha-a-itk of the Okanagan Valley Indians is long gone, a decidedly less fearsome — and more biological — beast, whose exact form is a matter of debate, has replaced it.
Ogopogo is often described as dark and multi-humped, with green, black, brown or gray skin. The head is said to look like that of a snake, sheep, horse, seal or even an alligator. Some eyewitnesses say it has ears or horns; others don't. Many sightings simply describe a featureless "log" that came alive.

Modern searches and sightings

Lake Okanagan is in British Columbia, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) east of Vancouver. The lake is 84 miles (135 km) long and between 2.5 and 3 miles (4 and 5 km) wide, with an average depth of 249 feet (76 m). The lake has been searched several times, most thoroughly in a 1991 expedition that looked for the monster with high-tech devices, including a remotely operated vehicle and a miniature submarine. The pilot took the vehicle to a depth of 840 feet along the lake bottom at the deepest part of the lake, but no Ogopogos were sighted, nor did the submarine discover any of the creatures' carcasses or bones.
The best film evidence of Ogopogo is about a minute of footage shot in 1968 by a man named Arthur Folden. Folden noticed "something large and lifelike" in the distance out on the calm water and pulled out his home movie camera to capture the object. An investigation I designed and conducted with John Kirk for the National Geographic Channel TV show "Is It Real?" in 2005 revealed that the object Folden filmed was indeed a real animal but its size had been greatly overestimated. It was probably a waterfowl or beaver too far away to be identified, but still leaving an impressive wake in the calm water.
What are eyewitnesses seeing? As with all lake monsters, there is no one specific explanation that accounts for all sightings. There are animals that might be mistaken for a strange creature when seen at or near the water's surface. If Ogopogo is real and exists, what is it? Explanations range from the plausible (manatee, sturgeon or oarfish) to the exotic (a dinosaur or a type of prehistoric whale called the zeuglodon).
Many sightings of the lake monster may not be of any living thing. Lake Okanagan's geological features create long, unusual waves that can look exactly like the monster, down to Ogopogo's signature series of humps. In other cases, a sighting of a moving hump in the water is not an aquatic optical illusion, but instead something almost as mundane: floating logs. This is easy to dismiss until you actually review dozens of sighting reports and read what eyewitness after eyewitness describes asa straight, featureless "log" that seemed to be floating in the waves.

A man visiting Lake Okanagan in 2011 claimed to have captured video of Ogopogo. According to a report in the Vancouver Sun, "Richard Huls says he always believed in the possibility of the monster rumored to be living in Okanagan Lake. Last Thursday, while visiting a West Kelowna winery, Huls shot video that he believes proves something does indeed live in the water. "It was not going with the waves," Huls said. "It was not a wave obviously, just a darker color. The size and the fact that they were not parallel with the waves made me think it had to be something else."
The video quality is poor and the camera is shaky, but a closer look at the 30-second video reveals that, instead of one long object, there are actually two shorter ones, and they seem to be floating next to each other at slightly different angles. There are no humps, nor head, nor form; only two long, darkish, more or less straight forms that appear to be a few dozen feet long. In short, they look a lot like floating logs, which would not be surprising since Lake Okanagan has tens of thousands of logs harvested by the timber industry floating just under the lake's surface.
Ogopogo may or may not really exist in Lake Okanagan, but it can certainly be found if you look; tourist shops along the lake sell plenty of Ogopogo-themed hats, T-shirts, mugs and plush toys.

Original Source: http://www.livescience.com/42399-ogopogo.html

Say Hello to my Little Friend: Meet the Mud Volcano Worm

They resemble low budget horror movie monsters but Scottish Natural Heritage say people should care about the protection of these strange, green sea creatures.

Cradled in the hands of a marine scientist, the mud volcano worm (Maxmuelleria lankesteri) looks like a slimy gherkin with a tail.

Down on the bottom of deep blue seas, the burrowing animals create mounds of mud up to a metre (3ft) high.

Last week, Scottish Natural Heritage said the "UK's biggest and best known example" of this unusual habitat had been found in Loch Sween, a sea loch in Argyll. The mounds cover an area of about 1,630 acres (660ha) on the loch bed.

Scotland has some of Europe's largest areas of burrowed mud, which is made by mud volcano worms and other burrowers such as brittlestars, crabs and shrimps.

These areas are found in the Minch, Moray Firth, Firth of Forth, the northern North Sea and in deep water around the St Kilda archipelago and Rockall.

Muddy mounds of up to a metre (3ft) high have been found in Loch Sween

According to SNH, burrowed mud is a "surprisingly important" marine habitat that supports a "rich community" of animals.

The burrowers churn up mud and fine sand, oxygenating it and mixing in nutrients and minerals.

This environment attracts shellfish, tube worms, sea pens, fireworks anemone and fish.

Many of the animals that are drawn to the burrowed mud have an economic value.

They include langoustine, which is caught and then sold to markets in France and Spain, and also commercially fished cod, haddock and whiting.

Original Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-25436793

30 new species found living under Antarctic

More than 30 new species of sea creatures living under the Antarctic have been discovered by a British team of scientists.

Marine biologists from the British Antarctic Survey have been surveying the Amundsen Sea five years ago after the ice shelf began to break up.
Scientists have compiled a list of 275 marine species, including 30 new creatures.
A brain-like sea cucumber called Psolus Byrdae, and a bathysciadiid limpet - a type of sea snail - with a taste for dead octopus are among the team’s strangest finds.
A new species called the flabelligerids, which has now been referred to as the “bristle-cage-worm” because of its bright neon yellow bristles, was also among the discoveries.

Original Source: http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/arts/visual-arts/30-new-species-found-living-under-antarctic-1-3226513

'Alien' life form spotted in Bristol harbour: a close encounter or is something fishy going on?

 

Could this footage of a strange glowing creature swimming in Bristol harbour be proof that the planet is slowly being taken over by aliens?

The 30 second clip, uploaded to YouTube on Tuesday, has already been viewed 22,555 times. Alien life?: The strange squid-like creature (Picture: John Tombe/YouTube)
Camerman John Tombe, who filmed the extraordinary sight alongside several other bystanders, posted underneath: "Filmed this tonight. What the hell?'
We're watching you: Bystander takes a video (Picture: John Tombe/YouTube)
Marine biologists believe the squid-like animal could be a marine salp which had drifted off course because of the weather.
Bright light: Others try to get a shot of the luminous creature (Picture: John Tombe/YouTube)
Others have suggested it could be a bioluminescent hydrozoan jellyfish, otherwise known as a 'crystal jelly', not often seen in Britain.
They tend to be found off the west coast of North America and are capable of producing flashes of blue light.
Glowing: The unidentified animal swims away (Picture: John Tombe/YouTube)
A similar species was spotted off the coast of Scotland in 2009 and is now on display at the Macduff Marine Aquarium.

Original Source: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/alien-life-form-spotted-in-bristol-harbour-a-close-encounter-or-is-something-fishy-going-on-8986264.html

Bizarre Sea Creature Caught Off Miami Beach

Bizarre Sea Creature Caught Off Miami Beach

A rarely seen sea creature that normally lives at the depths of the ocean has been snagged by Captain Mark Quartiano, better known as Mark the Shark.

The odd-looking creature was caught off Miami Beach. According to Quarantino, who posted the photograph in his Instagram account over the weekend, the huge beast is a Dactylobatus clarkii or Hookskate.

Mark the Shark told CBSMiami.com that he caught the monster in local waters while shooting a series of shows for a Japanese television network.
The beast was captured, tagged and released back into the ocean.
Very little is known about the Hookskate. It mostly inhabits muddy bottoms of the continental slope at depths of 1,000 feet in the western central and southwest Atlantic

Original Source : http://miami.cbslocal.com/2013/11/25/bizarre-sea-creature-caught-off-miami-beach/