Real Fish That Are So Horrifying You May Never Want To Get In The Ocean Ever Again
Here's a fun, albeit mildly horrifying, fact: More than 80% of the ocean is unmapped, unobserved, and unexplored. We may as well know nothing about the planet with all that mystery, and honestly, considering some of the things we do know, maybe we don't want or need to know more?
Seriously, some of the creatures we have discovered dwelling in the depths of the ocean are spooky and nightmare-inducing enough that it is reasonable to assume how horrifyingly worse it could get. If you're doubting the probability that horrors await us in the undiscovered, check out these 17 examples of the creepiest fish we've already discovered and rethink that stance...
1. Blue Ring Octopus
At a glance, this octopus may look cuter than it is terrifying, but don't let it fool you; it is one of the world's most venomous marine animals! They are extremely dangerous to humans because their venom contains the potent neurotoxin tetrodotoxin, and to date, no antidote has been developed and approved for human use.
2. Hairy Angler Fish
The Hairy Angler Fish looks like a Stephen King monster, but alas, it's very real, and you can find it around 8,000 feet deep in the ocean. The long antennae on the fish resemble strands of hair and can feel vibrations in the ocean from prey for the predator fish to consume. The worst part about this deep-sea nightmare is that it can grow to be as big as 14 cm (or 5.5 inches), with ridiculously sharp and plentiful teeth.
3. Giant Spider Crab
From claw to claw, this armored sea spider can grow just past 12 feet long. It crawls along the ocean floor and can easily weigh over 40 lbs. Apparently, despite their absolutely horrifying appearance, they're typically a "nice" crustacean, and our fear is "irrational."
4. Snaggletooth Fish
The Snaggletooth Fish has no scales and sharp, needle-like teeth. It uses a bioluminescent red chin barbel as a lure to attract small prey within striking distance.
5. Barreleye Fish
This freaky-looking fish isn't as "I'll seriously EAT YOU" as the other fish we've seen so far, but its characteristics are creepy enough to lead your imagination into dark territory. Its tubular and telescoping eyes protrude from its head. Their heads are also transparent domes of soft tissue, which is kind of gross and creepy.
6. Black Dragonfish
This deep-sea predator can be found at depths of 3,000 to 10,000 feet. The Black Dragonfish has a black stomach so that after it eats a luminescent fish, other fish can't see it.
7. The Viper Fish
This ugly predator, on the smaller side (if up to nearly 2 feet long is small, anyway), has a jaw that can unhinge for the sole purpose of consuming prey. Viper fish lure prey in with light-producing organs called photophores, and they come into shallower waters at night.
8. Moray Eel
This ambush predator's teeth are designed to tear flesh or grasp slippery prey, and they secrete a toxic mucus over their scaleless skin. They can live as long as 30 years and grow as large as 13 feet long. They can eat octopus and lionfish without issue and are considered apex predators in their respective ocean ecosystems!
9. Hatchet Fish
Their entire depth range spans from 50 to 1,500 meters deep in the ocean, and they have large eyes that usually angle upwards and are sometimes tube-shaped. They're creepy.
10. Coffinfish
The Coffinfish is a species of sea toad that can be found as deep as 983 feet in the ocean. Their body is covered in tiny spines, and they fill their bodies with water to puff up (almost like a pufferfish) as a defense mechanism!
11. Black Swallower Fish
The Black Swallower Fish usually measures around 10 inches, but shockingly, it can consume prey up to 10 times larger than itself, which is practically unfathomable. It creeps through the ocean at depths of 700 to 2,700 feet. This freaky fish has swallowed fish so large that it couldn't digest the prey faster than it could decompose in its stomach, releasing gas that brought corpses to the surface waters.
12. Sea Slugs
The carnivorous sea slug may seem like a low-priority nightmare due to its small size, but the gelatinous vacuum cleaner for a head is precisely the sort of thing that should give you the heebie-jeebies.
13. Stargazer
This eerie fish has eyes on the top of its head and can be found in both shallow and deep waters. They bury themselves in sand and leap upwards to ambush prey that passes by overhead. Stargazers also have venomous spines, and some species have a worm-like lure to really amp up that creepy factor.
14. Grenadier Fish
This deep-sea dweller is found at depths of 660 to 22,970 feet in the ocean, and yet they are one of the most common deep-sea fish out there. They're known for being ugly and having disproportionately large eyes.
15. The Goblin Shark
This horrifying deep-sea monstrosity is considered a "living fossil." Typically, this deep-sea predator grows to between 10 and 13 feet long (but 20-foot-long goblin sharks have been found), and its protruding, nail-like teeth are what nightmares are truly made of. It spends its time in the sea anywhere from 330 feet deep to around 4,200 feet deep. This ambush predator's jaw literally snaps forward to snatch unsuspecting prey that gets too close. You're welcome for the nightmares.
16. That's enough ocean for today. Do we even want to discover the other 80%?
17. Deep Sea Lizard Fish
This large and in-charge deep-sea predator likes to sit on the ocean floor (anywhere from 2,000 to 11,000 feet deep) and wait for prey to come near. This fish is considered an apex predator in the ocean ecosystem, and they can grow to be as large as 4 to 5 feet long. Humans naturally encounter them while diving on occasion, but so far, we aren't on the menu. Phew.
18. Crystal Jellyfish
This terrifying jellyfish is almost entirely transparent and colorless but can emit a green bioluminescent glow along its outer bell. They can have up to 150 tentacles that can grow as long as 120 feet!
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