8 of the weirdest deep sea creatures you’ve never heard of (Microgreens with Melissa Márquez)

There’s a worm that shoots out glowing green slime, a squid that can turn itself invisible, and a fish that literally walks on land. To celebrate World Oceans Day last week, today’s episode is all about the ocean’s weirdest and most wonderful creatures.

I'm joined once again by Melissa Márquez - an amazing marine biologist, shark scientist, and science communicator. She’s been on TV, given TEDx talks, written books - she’s just awesome. If you want to learn more about her, make sure you check out our main episode released earlier this week.

But this week, we dive into the weird and wonderful of the ocean.

In this episode we talk about:

• A fish that can walk on land (yes, really!)
• A squid that can turn invisible by bending light
• A worm that fires out green slime like something from a horror film
• Why jellyfish are older than dinosaurs
• How a pufferfish creates the most delicate art on the sea floor
• A sea slug that steals genes from algae and uses photosynthesis
• How ocean creatures are inspiring new technologies and materials
• Why these species might disappear before most people even hear about them

“Some squids don’t just hide, they actually turn invisible by bending light around their bodies.”

“This fish literally walks on land… it’s like evolution just gave up and said, ‘sure, go for it.’”

Episode Sources:

Blobfish deep-sea morphology: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/facts/blobfish Humboldt squid size, colour flashes and behaviour: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt_squid Bigfin (Magnapinna) squid fact-sheet (NOAA): https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex2107/features/bigfin-squid/bigfin-squid.html

Goblin shark protrusible jaws: https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/goblin-shark-facts

Gulper (pelican) eel with bioluminescent tail: https://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150608-the-scarfaced-eel-with-a-giant-mouth

Bobbit worm ambush and size: https://www.wired.com/2013/09/absurd-creature-of-the-week-bobbit-worm/

Giant isopod fasting ability: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/giant-isopods-curious-crustaceans-on-the-ocean-floor.html

Black seadevil (Johnson’s abyssal seadevil) deep-sea video: https://www.sci.news/biology/science-black-seadevil-anglerfish-02294.html

Sea pig cloacal breathing and pearlfish commensalism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotoplanes_globosa

More About Melissa. Follow her on Instagram.

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