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Animals of the Deep

From a fish with a transparent head to an adorable octopus with webbed arms, MBARI researchers have encountered some captivating creatures in more than three decades of deep-sea research. Meet some of our favorite denizens of the deep and learn about their adaptations to survive in an environment of frigid cold, inky darkness, and crushing pressure.

Barreleye fish

(Macropinna microstoma)

Deep-sea anglerfish

(order Lophiiformes)

A shark with a sleek brown body, long tail fin, and iridescent green eyes swims toward the right of the frame. The background is dark blue water.

Deep-sea catshark

(family Pentanchidae)

A skate with a pale-gray flat, diamond-shaped body, rounded wing-like fins, and a thin, curved tail rests on the brown muddy seafloor. The skate is facing the bottom left of the frame. There is a small orange crab at the bottom right of the frame.

Deep-sea skate

(Bathyraja spp.)

Dragonfish

(family Stomiidae)

Fangtooth

(Anoplogaster cornuta)

A cusk-eel with a white head, black eyes, thin white “whiskers,” and brown tapering body swims above the brown muddy seafloor. The fish is swimming to the right, toward the top of the frame, casting a large black shadow on the mud below.

Giant cusk-eel

(Spectrunculus grandis)

Pacific viperfish

(Chauliodus macouni)

Rattail fish

(family Macrouridae)

Whalefish

(family Cetomimidae)

Whiptail gulper eel

(Saccopharynx lavenbergi)