(AAP: Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service) Claims of specimens measuring 20m or more have not been scientifically documented. Recent estimates put the maximum size at 13m for females and 10m for males. The giant squid (this one washed up off Tasmania) is a deep-ocean dwelling squid, represented by as many as eight species. Few people have ever seen one, but pictures taken off Tasmania's south-east coast several years ago have re-surfaced on the internet, attracting more than three million views. It is not one big tubular creature but actually a colony of tiny creatures called zooids, which filter plankton from the water. The pyrosome can grow up to 30 metres and has been dubbed the 'unicorn of the sea'. The weedy sea dragons is the marine emblem of Victoria. They have small leaf-like appendages for camouflage and a number of short spines for protection.
Adult weedy sea dragons are reddish with yellow and purple markings. The Phyllopteryx, or weedy sea dragon, is a marine fish related to the seahorse. It is one of the fiercest predators in the deep sea and is believed to lure its prey using a light-producing organ called a photophore. The viperfish (the one pictured was discovered off the far north coast of Queensland), has long, needle-like teeth and hinged lower jaws and can grow up to 60cm. Its habit of lingering at the surface when sick or dying makes the oarfish a source of sea serpent tales. Its name presumably comes from either its compressed and elongated body, or the now discredited belief the fish rows itself through the water with its pelvic fins. The oarfish is the longest bony fish alive and can grow up to a mammoth 17 metres in length. "They spend most of their time on the bottom, sitting on the sediment, but they need to move around to find food, mates," Dr Bush said.ĭr Bush is trying to incubate a batch of octopus eggs in her laboratory, but they develop very slowly because of the cold temperature of the deep ocean and may not hatch for two or three years.Īnyone charmed enough by the cute creature to want to see one in the wild would have to dive in the Pacific to between 200 and 600 metres to where the water is only 6 degrees Celsius. It lives in deep cold waters and the 12 individuals that have been studied so far have all been female. it's easy to pronounce and popular with the public," Dr Bush said.Īside from how the octopus looks, scientists do not know much more about the new species. "I don't see any obvious reason why it would be inappropriate. Some other species have been deemed adorable, such as Lophornis adorabilis, the white-crested coquette hummingbird. (AFP photo handout: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) This little flapjack octopus has been compared to the ghost from the Pac-Man game and is the size of a fist.