The Inky Depths #9: Halloween Edition

October 31, 2023 5:23 AM

Happy Halloween, splashy friends! The tide is coming in with the best links I could find on the spookiest-named creatures in the deep! (and a fun fact about each one, for the time-crunched among you). Reach out a tentacle and press the

vampire squid (not a bloodsucker, uses very little oxygen, drifts like a cutie, takes on a "pineapple" posture)
vampire crab (aquarium trade popular, freaking adorable, yes that's a FACT - also see "orange disco" variety)
fangtooth (deep sea but no light-producing organs, only waiting in the darkness)
coffinfish (famous adorable little lumpy who can walk!)
halloween darter (exclusive to 2 river systems in Georgia)
candy darter (E. osburni was featured on a USPS stamp in 2023 - because - endangered - also helps with the reproduction of freshwater mussels)
chocolate gourami (popular aquarium fish, mothers incubate young in their mouths)
pumpkinseed (pattern resembles sunlight reflecting on shallow water)
bonefish (fly and light tackle gamefish, this video shows a live one, no violence here)
glass (or ghost) catfish (visible skeleton!)
devil fish/devil ray (species of eagle ray, as big at 17 feet long!) (no not that one (side note: many many fish are casually called "devilfish")
sea devils (monkfish) (enormously distensible stomach, can swallow prey as large as itself)
batfish (another walking fish, enjoy their bony tubercles)
atlantic wolffish (one of my favorites, and will likely get a full post - give great face - and they hang out in pairs!)
moonfish (opah) (near-whole-body endothermy - the entire core is maintained at around 5 °C above the surrounding water - unique among fish!)
witch flounder (born with eyes symmetrical - then the left eye migrates around the head)
witch sole (rex sole) (can live until 30!)
green terror (aquarium bullies, but can recognize you!)
mummichogs (first fish sent to space!)
goblin shark (fastest fish jaws in the ocean)
black ghost knifefish (graceful and elegant)
zombie worm (they crave bone)
"frankenstein fish"

and don't forget Swedish fish! (make a giant one!)

Bye!
🐙

Previously in Inky Depths:
The Inky Depths #8: Southern Pygmy Leatherjacket
The Inky Depths #7: Eels Give Me The Feels
The Inky Depths #6: Potato Grouper
The Inky Depths #5: Fish That Walk!
The Inky Depths #4: Slender Snipe Eel (Deep Sea Duck)
The Inky Depths #3: Pink See-Through Fantasia (Headless Chicken Monster)
The Inky Depths #2: Wobbegong (Carpet Shark)
The Inky Depths #1: The Whalefish

posted by tiny frying pan (6 comments total)

The vampire crab video was very entertains; thanks!
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:48 AM on October 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

After all those afternoons spent reading "The Shark: Splendid Savage of the Sea" by Jacques Cousteau and Philippe Cousteau at my grandparents' (landlocked!) house, all of this stuff freaks me out. The movie "JAWS" didn't help, either.

(OK, pumpkinseeds are beautiful fish: it's always fun to catch one of those from a lake and see the aquarium-grade colors, shining in the sun!)
posted by wenestvedt at 8:14 AM on October 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

Thanks for this post, I'm diving in (heh).
posted by winesong at 8:28 AM on October 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

Magnificent post!!!

Thanks to the vampire crab post, I have paludarium aspirations that I was previously oblivious to.
posted by wowenthusiast at 9:23 AM on October 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

great post, love this series.

I frequently see wolf eels on dives in the PNW. They're very similar to the pacific wolffish, just as goofily charismatic. The diver behavior in that wolffish video though, yeesh. Admire the nature from a respectful distance, folks. don't touch it.
posted by tylermoody at 10:36 AM on October 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

Oh didn't mean to promote bad diver behavior! I agree, leave the cute fish alone!
posted by tiny frying pan at 10:38 AM on October 31, 2023