To Seek Out New Life Forms

To seek out new life forms, was part of an expression to the opening statement of the Star Trek series. I started this hub with that expression because that statement was often used in reference to exploration on other planets. Today we can seek out strange new life forms on our very own planet without ever leaving it. New species of life are discovered on a regular basis both on land in tropical regions and under water at extreme depths. However, the vase majority of these new species are discovered in the waters. When you see some of these images it is difficult to believe that these creatures are living on the same world as we are. Take a look at a few we have already discovered on our own world.

This creature is a deep-sea creature amphipod crustacean. The obvious feature of this creature is the two large eyes. It needs these eyes to see other creatures that emit small amounts of light. At depths around 2 miles or more there is no light there, just total darkness.

This is an Anglerfish from the depths. I do not think you want to mess with this guy. At that depth you probably will not see him, but there are some Anglerfish at this depths with lighted lure to attract their next meal. 

This fish is found in the cold waters of the Antarctica region. This fish is capable of surviving freezing water temperature because it has an anti-freeze like substance circulating in its body instead of red blood cells.

This strange looking creature is a variety of marine animals we call sea cucumbers. It was found off the coast of Antarctica. The animal is sometimes called a "sea pig". Come to think of it, it does look like a bloated pig with a lot of legs.

Here is a photo taken off the Gulf of Mexico of three guys holding an Oarfish. This is a rarely seen deep-sea creature. Occasionally, a dying Oarfish can be seen at the water surface or washed a shore. A Oarfish as long as 41 feet has been reported. Some believe the appearance of this fish in ancient times is what start the myth of the "Sea Serpent" heard in many cultures and stories around the world.

This new species of crab was discovered off the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge in the South Pacific Ocean. It was named Kiwa hirsuta kiwa, after the goddess of shellfish in Polynesian mythology, but has become known as the yeti crab because of its hairy legs. I do not think I would want to eat one of these guys until they remove the hair.

Now, look at this creature, it appears to be from another planet. It even looks like a flying saucer. This is a Deep-Sea Jellyfish. This animal puts on quite a light show when threaten by a predator. The light show serves as an alarm to attract other creatures to the scene in an attempt to scare off the predator.

This is a giant Isopod. They are found in the deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Below is a close-up of this guy in better lighting.

These are Vestimentiferan worms found near methane seeps in the oceans. They are a form of tube worms often found near thermal vents in the oceans.

As you can see there are many bizarre creatures living below the surface of our waters and many more yet to be discovered. It is not hard to imagine that life must exist on other earth-like planets in our Milky Way Galaxy and beyond after looking at these pictures. Life on those other planets may not look like us or any other life form on this planet but they might just exist in some strange and bizarre form.