What if Megalodon wasn’t the scariest creature that roamed the waters? What if there were far scarier creatures lurking at the bottom of the ocean, waiting for their meal to come along? Size doesn’t always matter.
BOBBIT WORM
There aren’t any mummies or zombies buried under the seafloor: instead, the ocean has its own terror from below, the Bobbit worm.
A couple of inches wide and up to ten feet long, the Bobbit worm stays hidden under tropical sands with just its five antennae poking out waiting.
When it senses prey above, it moves with speed and strength to grab them, sometimes splitting its fishy prey in half with its sharp teeth! It also injects them with a toxin to help break down its food to make it easier to digest.
Readers of a certain age will remember the story of Mrs. Lorena Bobbitt, who in 1993 made world news for taking a kitchen implement to her abusive husband’s private parts.
The report remained in the public consciousness for several years, which explains why in 1996 a lowly and largely overlooked ocean worm was finally given the name of Bobbit worm.
The Bobbit worm is a worm, weaponized. It has huge, scissor-like jaws that open wide.
Five antennae protruding from its head act like tripwires.
The Bobbit worm’s razor-sharp mouthparts strike with such velocity that prey is sometimes sliced clean in two.
DUMBO OCTOPUS
Dumbo octopuses live in the deep open ocean down to depths of at least 13,100 feet and perhaps much deeper, making this group the deepest living of all known octopuses. Life at these extreme depths requires the ability to live in very cold water and in the complete absence of sunlight.
Dumbo octopuses are naturally rare, and the deep sea is enormous, so these species have specialized behaviors to increase the likelihood that they can successfully reproduce anytime that they find a mate.
Though they spend much of their lives suspended above the seafloor, Dumbo octopuses lay their eggs on the bottom, attached to rocks or other hard surfaces.
Dumbo octopuses move by slowly flapping their ear-like fins, and they use their arms to steer. They are foraging predators and eat pelagic invertebrates that swim above the seafloor.
As there are few large predators in the deep sea, Dumbo octopuses’ primary predators are diving fishes and marine mammals, including tunas, sharks, and dolphins.
Due to their preference for extreme depths, they are only very rarely captured in fishing nets and are probably not threatened by human activities.
