Comments on: Terrifying Fish

Terrifying Fish

jonson — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 12:04:19 -0800

Terrifying gallery of fish from the deep, DEEP seas.

By: y6y6y6

y6y6y6 — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 12:08:19 -0800

I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure these are all movie props.

By: sixtwenty3dc

sixtwenty3dc — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 12:09:17 -0800

...wow

By: chrid

chrid — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 12:11:04 -0800

Aaargh!

By: fijiwriter

fijiwriter — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 12:15:10 -0800

Great..just got the heeby-jeebies.

By: hama7

hama7 — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 12:15:30 -0800

Yikes. That chimaera!

By: Orange Goblin

Orange Goblin — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 12:18:16 -0800

Urgh..

By: agregoli

agregoli — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 12:19:33 -0800

Loved it. Thanks!

By: orange swan

orange swan — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 12:20:54 -0800

I wonder how they'd taste grilled.

By: malphigian

malphigian — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 12:27:23 -0800

If you think the pictures are scary, you should see 'em moving. Go watch the Deep episode of the BBC's Blue Planet. It'll leave you floored when they finally get to the "lake", it'll also remind you that sci-fi writers could stand to be a little more imaginative.

By: soundofsuburbia

soundofsuburbia — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 12:28:55 -0800

[This is good]

By: Smart Dalek

Smart Dalek — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 12:31:22 -0800

I wonder how they'd taste grilled. Just like pollock, no doubt.

By: biscotti

biscotti — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 12:35:51 -0800

AUGH! Some of those are just WRONG. The Lizardfish, and the Chimaera and the "Blob" are just...I'll never get to sleep tonight. Great post.

By: chicobangs

chicobangs — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 12:36:48 -0800

[this is creepy]

By: bedhead

bedhead — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 12:37:54 -0800

Ack! I'm scared. Hold me. Jonson, as usual, great post. Even if I won't be able to sleep EVER AGAIN.

By: vito90

vito90 — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 12:43:05 -0800

Wow, wow, a thousand times wow. Thanks dood.

By: kickingtheground

kickingtheground — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 12:45:11 -0800

How do they raise them to the surface without them exploding? Oh, and great link.

By: azul

azul — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 12:46:06 -0800

Very interesting. Thanks Jonson. Goes along well with Tony Bourdain's "A Cook's Tour.

By: scody

scody — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 12:48:52 -0800

Ah, the horrors of the briny deep... fascinating and excellent!

By: gwint

gwint — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 13:00:25 -0800

These are obvious fakes. Next thing you'll be telling me you have movies of cats with human hands.

By: tsarfan

tsarfan — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 13:01:58 -0800

and i thought my last haircut made me look scary

By: Ogre Lawless

Ogre Lawless — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 13:17:03 -0800

Why oh why must they have so many TEETH?!?

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 13:18:26 -0800

I am glad that, should I fall unequipped into the ocean, I would be long dead before I was face to face with any of these guys.

By: Tin Man

Tin Man — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 13:45:32 -0800

I love this. It helps makes one aware of the great variety of species that exist on this planet. Forget extraterrestrials -- there's a whole world down there that we boring humans know nothing about. It's like another planet, almost -- but it's right here on Earth. *waxes spiritually* *wanes*

By: Busithoth

Busithoth — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 13:52:17 -0800

Ia! Ia!

By: agregoli

agregoli — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 13:56:00 -0800

Does anyone else think it's weird how we can acheive space flight with relative ease compared to deep sea exploration?

By: orange swan

orange swan — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 14:03:14 -0800

Perhaps it's more that we just haven't made the same level of effort to explore the deep sea.

By: yerfatma

yerfatma — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 14:08:27 -0800

Thanks. I still remember a book I had as a child just because of the two-page spread on the fish of the Mariana's Trench. They looked like nothing that belonged on the same planet as me. The fish that had the light over his head (who later got a small role in Finding Nemo) kep me awake for years.

By: agregoli

agregoli — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 14:27:39 -0800

It's the pressure - we can't build things strong enough to go to the ocean's deepest depths.

By: mert

mert — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 14:34:42 -0800

Why do all these deep sea fish seem scary looking? Why would it be that humans would perceive the deep sea fish as scary looking? It's strange, really... the evolution of scary appearance on land serves a purpose in the light of day. For instance, the poisonous crotalids (rattlesnakes, pit vipers) look way scarier than a garter snake, perhaps evidence of the evolution of our own perceptual machinery. But these deep sea fish... it's too dark to see them. I dont get it. I think I'm mixing up causalities... a little help?

By: stevis

stevis — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 14:59:09 -0800

We must kill them all. *shivers*

By: milovoo

milovoo — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 15:05:32 -0800

These are great. I had never seen that shovel-nosed lobster before. Wiggy. Another weird deep one is the Giant Isopod.

By: Triplanetary

Triplanetary — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 15:41:01 -0800

Why do all these deep sea fish seem scary looking? Here's a theory: We are used to seeing rabbits, cats, deer etc, so we don't find them scary. Some familiar animals look scary to us, like spiders, but that's because they are potentially dangerous. These deep sea fish aren't dangerous, just alien.

By: jonson

jonson — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 15:46:59 -0800

It's an interesting theory, but there's another dimension, I think. There are common characteristics we find a little icky: long teeth, dark colors, slime. Many of these creatures as a function of their existence have some or all of these characteristics. They are just plain freakish, no doubt about it.

By: carter

carter — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 15:53:06 -0800

I thought the isopod was kind of cute.

By: dg

dg — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 16:33:51 -0800

[this is good] If you think they look scary, imagine how we look to them.

By: letitrain

letitrain — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 16:54:25 -0800

Judging by the look on this guy's face, I'd say we look pretty bad to them.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 17:00:35 -0800

That blob-fish is just plain ol' freaky. It has a human nose.

By: phyrewerx

phyrewerx — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 17:12:19 -0800

I don't necessarily find them freaky, just intriguing. The last one just looks awesome. Where can I get a stuffed one for my little cousins?

By: Stauf

Stauf — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 17:17:21 -0800

I was thinking the same thing fff. Except I was focusing more on the kinda human-like eye, which seems to be looking up at the camera.

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 17:29:09 -0800

Ugly fish, all of them. Yet only a few approach the gaping, otherworldly terror of the (delicious) monkfish.

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 17:30:55 -0800

Another great monkfish picture. The very jaws of hell, I tell you!

By: TimeFactor

TimeFactor — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 17:39:17 -0800

In New England monkfish are called goosefish. I caught one once as a kid. I probably could have fit in its mouth. I was too scared to pull it out of the water so I just cut the line.

By: tenseone

tenseone — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 18:36:12 -0800

Excellent. Thank you jonson.

By: cadastral

cadastral — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 18:48:14 -0800

Whenever you order "chilean sea bass" at a restaurant, you're getting the decidedly non-basslike (and somewhat frightening) "Patagonian Toothfish." (Just an aside)

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 19:43:04 -0800

How is it that restaurants can tell such baldfaced lies? Isn't it illegal? Might was well serve up a slice of chicken and tell me it's a steak.

By: furiousthought

furiousthought — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 20:03:56 -0800

Chalk it up to overfishing. Weren't tilapia originally called "slime suckers" or something similarly appetizing? At least the restaurant industry hasn't heard of oreos.

By: dejah420

dejah420 — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 20:25:55 -0800

I wasn't too ooked out...and then, I got to the blobfish... *shudder* That's like something out of Dante. Too creepy. The fishies with all the teeth and their own light show...those are just cool. No dark shadows creeping through my dreamscape cause of those little guys...but that blob thing...I don't know what sort of psychic steel wool I'll have to use to forget that...

By: luminol

luminol — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 20:43:03 -0800

Hey, the David Cronenberg Museum has a tidal pool petting zoo! Ghh. I think I just traumatized myself. Great link, jonson.

By: BT

BT — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 21:07:26 -0800

Monkfish is indeed delicious, as well as a steal, price-wise. Try it in a risotto. Inner beauty, indeed. Great link!

By: SisterHavana

SisterHavana — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 21:30:44 -0800

I was OK til I got to the basketwork eel and squid FROM ITS STOMACH! However, deep sea fish fascinate me.

By: centrs

centrs — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 21:43:41 -0800

some of the fish don't look quite finished. like they are an evolutionary snapshot.

By: centrs

centrs — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 21:45:26 -0800

oh come on, malphigian! tell us about the lake.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 21:59:17 -0800

My local lake is a few hundred kilometers long and a few hundred meters deep. There is, of course, a lake monster living in it. The divers who placed the concrete anchors for the floating bridge across the lake were rather freaked out by immense shadows swimming overhead. They were sturgeon. Very Big Sturgeon, over thirty feet long. Some of the divers stopped diving in our lake. Can't blame them: it'd be a real bitch to be scoping out some antique bottles or somesuch, only to be sucked up by a gigantic, clueless bottom-feeder. Chances are our lake monster is just a really big fish. Really big.

By: subgenius

subgenius — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 22:39:50 -0800

Gahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

By: dgaicun

dgaicun — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 23:23:20 -0800

That blob-fish is just plain ol' freaky. It has a human nose. Not many pics on the Internet, but here's a front view {crappy picture quality tho}. Here's another {good quality, uninteresting angle} pic of "Psychrolutes marcidus".

By: dgaicun

dgaicun — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 23:46:32 -0800

Come to think of it the FishBase where I got the good quality photo, also has many other interesting fish photos as well:

By: dg

dg — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 00:06:36 -0800

I still think that this has to be the most scary fish in the world.

By: dgaicun

dgaicun — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 00:36:14 -0800

has many other interesting fish photos as well Like this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 02:02:19 -0800

If you think they look scary, imagine how we look to them. Delicious?

By: backOfYourMind

backOfYourMind — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 05:17:51 -0800

dg, I'm with you 100%. I have a morbid dread of stepping on a stonefish, every description I have heard of it makes it sound like the most excruciating pain imaginable, not to mention the horrifying idea of drowning in four inches of water after being paralyzed.

By: Hildegarde

Hildegarde — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 07:37:01 -0800

Next thing you'll be telling me you have movies of cats with human hands. I SAW THAT. I saw it and it freaked me out. And oh my god as an ichthophobic person this link freaks me out. And yet I was compelled to click on it. Many, many of the pictures I managed to see frightened me to an obscene degree. I mean, I realize they're not going ot hurt me, and yet I'm still terrified and feel that I'm about to throw up. I can't say I understand it. I nearly got halfway through. I am proud of myself.

By: spazzm

spazzm — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 07:53:00 -0800

bioluminescent tooth bases Now that's what I want for xmas!

By: kurumi

kurumi — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 08:19:57 -0800

The second picture looks like H. R. Giger by way of Rob Bottin. Orange Roughy once went by the name Slimehead (which doesn't look good on a menu). More terrifying/weird stuff: vampire squid; siphonophore (longest of which are about 130 feet -- longer than a blue whale)

By: furiousthought

furiousthought — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 08:51:49 -0800

Ah. Orange roughy. That's what I was thinking of. Not tilapia. Thanks, kurumi.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 09:21:06 -0800

backofyourmind: heck, stonefish are a breeze compared to the Box Jellyfish. Pain from the box jellyfish is bad enough that you'll pass out unconscious... and still keep screaming.

By: deathofme

deathofme — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 12:33:06 -0800

The last one just looks awesome. Where can I get a stuffed one for my little cousins? posted by phyrewerx at 8:12 PM EST on March 1 I know I'm late to the discussion, but try here . Not exactly stuffed, though.

By: batgrlHG

batgrlHG — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 13:27:13 -0800

"Pain from the box jellyfish is bad enough that you'll pass out unconscious... and still keep screaming." You can scream while unconscious? No - really? Where can I read more about this? Not about the box jelly though - have heard all the fun horror stories about that... And meanwhile I too will have Evil Fish Dreams now. Thank you all...

By: ginz

ginz — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 13:34:42 -0800

"Pain from the box jellyfish is bad enough that you'll pass out unconscious... and still keep screaming." *shivers*

By: agregoli

agregoli — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 14:38:05 -0800

Dude, I CANNOT find soft stuffed animals of these kinds of deep sea creatures. I want an anglerfish, at least. Anyone?

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 15:18:38 -0800

Bill Bryson's Aussie adventure book ("mumblesomething Down Under" or something like that) describes the box jelly incident. There was a recent incident headlining "Underwater Times" (or something like that) the other week, too.

By: syzygy

syzygy — Wed, 03 Mar 2004 03:26:53 -0800

I present to you the scariest fish of all: