The Glass Squid: a whole lot of nothing.
Okay class, now who can tell me where the brain is located? Anyone? Anyone know the answer?
Neither do we. But we do know the Glass Squid is one very creepy animal with not much going on. Transparent skin, ridiculously short arms, telescopic eyes and a enormous sack of emptiness. That’s it. Class dismissed!
This is naut pretty.
The Nautilus is yet another living fossil we’re very fond of. These cephalopods haven’t evolved very much in the past 500 million or so years, which makes them creepy, old and faithful. Just the way we like our animals.
Its trademark coiled shell contains many, many chambers and is pressure-resistant to 2600 feet below. The Nautilus swims via jet propulsion and osmosis. Using its siphon, it draws water into its main living chamber, then pushes it out. While water is inside the chamber, a thin organ running through all the chambers extracts the salt. The salt diffuses into the blood and the Nautilus adjusts buoyancy by pumping gas and fluid into or out of the chambers.
The end result of this biological song and dance? It moves through water.
The living quarters contain many chambers. How quaint.
Half animal, half plant, 100% creepy.
This Green Sea Slug (Elysia chlorotica, specifically) is the official Underwater Curiosities category challenger on Creepy Animals. We ask:
It is Underwater? Yes.
A Curiosity of sorts? Why yes.
Creepy? Most definitely.
An Animal? Hmm. Not exactly.
That’s because Elysia chlorotica creates chlorophyll, just like a plant. It accomplishes this task by harvesting the genes and photosynthesizing organelles from the Vaucheria algae it ingests. This means the slug is fully equipped to manufacture it’s own food via photosynthesis, which has never been observed in the animal kingdom. It also means that once a young slug eats its first full meal, it never has to eat the algae again.
This one goes straight to heaven.
Behold the Sea Angel. A gorgeous, otherworldly creature seemingly made of gossamer and light in equal parts, gracefully beating its wings as it soars through waters deep. Then you realize it’s actually a snail without a shell. Now it’s a creepy animal. Congratulations.
![[insert chainsaw buzzing sound]](http://creepyanimals.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/sawshark.jpg "sawshark")
Dun dun. Dun dun. Dun-dun dun-dun dun-dun dun-dun…
This is so much worse than a Great White lurking on the beaches of Amity Island. Sawsharks are most obviously distinguished from other sharks by the row of teeth sticking out on either end of its long snout, which it uses to blade its victims.
Observe:
Muahahahhaaa.