Creatures of the Mariana Trench - If you've ever wondered what lies beneath the shimmering surface of the ocean, you're in for a treat!
The deepest point in the ocean, the Mariana Trench, is a world of wonder and amazement.
It's so deep that if you dropped Mount Everest into it, there would still be over a mile of water above the mountain's peak.
To put it simply, it's the ultimate abyss, and it's teeming with life that will leave you utterly astounded.
Now for the big attraction: the extraordinary organisms that have evolved to life in the Mariana Trench. These intriguing species demonstrate nature's limitless inventiveness.
Table of Contents
1. Giant Isopods - Nature's Roly-Polies
One of the biggest crustaceans and the largest member of the isopod family known to science are giant isopods.
They can go as big as 30 inches long and 3.7 pounds in weight. They are related to crabs and shrimp.
The scavengers known as giant isopods consume falling debris such as fish heads, crab shells, marine snow, and marine worms.
They are found in the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic seas' frigid, deep waters. To humans, they are somewhat mysterious.
2. Abyssal Anglerfish - The Deep-Sea Lantern
A bioluminescent lure is used by the abyssal anglerfish (Melanocetus murrayi) to draw in food in the deep ocean.
There are microbes that make their own light inside the lure. A powerful skin flap on the anglerfish can be used to conceal or disclose the lure.
They attract prey by:
- Pulsing the light
- Moving the lure back and forth
- Dangling the spine above their fanged jaws
The bacteria and the anglerfish coexist well. The fish provides the bacteria with the nutrients they need, and the bacterium glows to attract food for the fish.
The anglerfish inhabit the deep ocean, which has very low temperatures, very high pressures, and no sunlight. Except for when they have met a mate, they seem to lead primarily solitary lives.
3. Grenadier Fish - The Abyssal Swimmers
The term "rattails" also applies to grenadier fish. They are tiny fish, no longer than 25 cm. They belong to the family Macrouridae.
The gregarious fish known as grenadiers frequently swim in small groups. On the abyssal plains, they are among the dominant fish species. They frequently are observed searching for food.
Grenadiers have extended bodies with skeletal bones and weak, watery muscles. The high pressures present at these depths do not compress them.
Grenadiers have modifications that make it easier for them to properly digest food.
Among these modifications are:
- Great sharp teeth
- Hinged jaws
- Disproportionately large mouths
- Expandable bodies
4. Deep-Sea Cucumber - Nature's Vacuum Cleaner
Sea cucumbers are aquatic creatures that inhabit the ocean's bottom. They keep the ocean robust and clean, earning them the nickname "the ocean's vacuum cleaners."
They achieve this by:
- Food consumption and digestion
- Sweeping up sand and breaking down the organic material it contains, such as fish excrement and algae
- Leaving traces or mounds of the purest sand conceivable
Scavengers and sea cucumbers eat plankton floating in the water column as well as small food items in the benthic zone (seafloor).
Their small tube feet help them move slowly. Some animals also have a quicker escape mechanism where they swim down the seafloor by flexing their bodies.
5. Mariana Snailfish - The Super-Adaptable
The Mariana snailfish, which lives at depths of 26,716 feet, is the deepest ocean dweller ever discovered. It was found in 2017 in the Mariana Trench, which is the deepest place on Earth, at a depth of 8,178 meters.
The Mariana snailfish has a number of adaptations that enable it to endure harsh environments:
- Skin that is too thin: The snailfish has loose, non-scaled skin.
- Because the sea floor is so dark, snailfish have extremely small eyes.
- A snailfish's high-pressure tolerance is equivalent to 1,600 elephants standing on its head in water.
Unique aquatic organisms that are uniquely suited for survival in extreme cold, darkness, and pressure can be found in the Mariana Trench.
6. Mantis Shrimp - Tiny Titans
Mantis shrimp are well renowned for packing a punch. They have club-like appendages that exhibit a bullet-like rate of acceleration.
They have the ability to swing their front limbs at 50 mph, which is about the same acceleration as a 22-caliber bullet.
The strongest animal in the animal realm is the mantis shrimp.
People can:
- Break off a crab's arm
- Pierce a snail's shell
- Defeat an octopus and prevail
- Smallen the mollusc shells by smashing them.
- Crustaceans the size of cigars are mantis shrimp.
They can swing their front limbs at a speed of 50 mph and have powerful limbs.
They assault their prey, which includes clams, snails, and small fish, with their club-like appendages.
7. Mariana Trench Amoebas - Xenophyophores
In the Mariana Trench, xenophyophores are single-celled, sponge-like organisms. They rank among the largest single-celled organisms still in existence today.
Except for the Arctic, xenophyophores are present in practically all of the world's oceans.
They were spotted in the Mariana Trench at a depth of up to 10 km (nearly 6 miles). The Mariana Trench is the oceanic region with the greatest depth.
In the Mariana Trench, researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography discovered a one-foot amoeba.
They employed a "Dropcam" probe, which has high-definition cameras and lighting inside a glass bubble.
Extreme ocean depths are a natural habitat for xenophyophores. They gorge themselves on an abundance of dead plants and animals that have floated down from the sea's surface.
8. Deep-Sea Polychaete Worms - The Tenacious Tunnellers
A group of marine annelid worms noted for their ability to burrow is the polychaete family.
They carry food into their burrows by moving water through them with their parapodia, which resemble paddles, or by making periodic movements of their bodies.
In the world's oceans, polychaetes can be found in every type of environment, from deep abysses to shallow estuaries and rocky coasts. They make up the largest and most varied subclass of the Phylum Annelida.
Polychaetes are strong and common, from species that can survive in the abyssal plain's coldest ocean temperatures to forms that can withstand extremely hot temperatures close to hydrothermal vents.
Polychaetes consist of:
- Sea mice, Bloodworms, Ragworms, Clamworms, and Lugworms.
- Polychaetes reproduce in a manner similar to other marine organisms by dispersing their sperm and eggs into the surrounding water.
9. Mariana Trench Jellyfish - Ghostly Drifters
A Jellyfish was found drifting 3,700 meters (2.3 miles) below the surface. The organism, according to scientists, belongs to the genus Crossota, a family of jellyfish that spends the entirety of its life drifting in the water.
On April 24, 2016, the jellyfish was spotted during Dive 4. The Marianas Trench Marine National Monument. It was found while investigating the 3,700-meter-deep "Enigma Seamount" informally.
As described by the Jellyfish:
- Trippy
- As though it were a dream
- Mysterious
- Glowing
- Mesmerizing
- Having the appearance of anything that came from an animator's studio
- A sneaky predator
10. Dumbo Octopus - The Trench's Graceful Acrobat
The Dumbo octopus (Grimpoteuthis), a deep-sea creature, dwells on the ocean floor between 9,800 and 13,000 feet below the surface.
They are little creatures, being around 8 inches tall, and they have two fins on their mantle.
Their resemblance to the title character of Disney's 1941 film Dumbo, which has two conspicuous ear-like fins that protrude from the mantle over each eye, is where the term "dumbo" came from.
The Octopus from Dumbo has the following traits:
- A bell-shaped body with a semi-gelatinous texture
- Arms with medium length and medium lateral fins
- Total length of 475 mm (19 in) with a mantle length of 115 mm (4.5 in).
- Suckers in a single row, with cirri in the middle.
- They move forward in the water by flapping their powerful fins.
- Their arms have webbing between them to help them swim.
