Viperfish © Dr. Deborah Steinberg
Deep Sea Creatures
Deep-sea
creatures live so deep in the oceans that the sun's rays can't filter through the water.
So, they live in total darkness and cold all the time (except the migrators when they look
for food). Because there isn't much food, creatures that live there have had to adapt.
Some of the them use bioluminescence. They use this
bioluminescence as bait to attract their prey or as a way to keep predators away from
them. Some have light organs, called photophores, and others
have bioluminescent bacteria on them.
Most of them have really big fang-like teeth and
jaws that are so huge they can eat whatever is there...even fish many times bigger than
itself.
The ones we saw pictures of were see-through.
And none of them had bright colors.
The Viperfish uses its bioluminescent lure and unhinges its jaw to eat its prey.