PHOTOS: Halloween spookiness from the deep, deep sea [video too!]

By Deborah Netburn

Oct. 31, 2013 7:01 AM PT

<i> This post has been corrected. Please see note at bottom for details. </i>

This Halloween, forget about bats and spiders and check out some of the creepy creatures that inhabit the eternal night of the deep, deep sea.

In the images above, you’ll meet a glass squid whose orange ink sack is visible through its transparent body, a longnose skate that breathes through flaps above its eyes, and the totally bizarre barreleye fish that has green tubular eyes ensconced in a transparent dome. The eyes can look straight up or rotate to look forward, and what looks like the fish’s eyes are actually its nostrils!

It’s worth clicking through to the end of the gallery to see the Frankentstein-looking Ray Troll’s ratfish, so named because it looks like something the artist Ray Troll would draw. And take note of the dots along the lines in its skin. They are likely sensors that allow it to detect the electric current emitted by its prey.

The images come from a video released this month by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, or MBARI. Each Halloween, MBARI puts out a video showcasing a creepy aspect of underwater life. Linda Kuhnz, the marine biologist who put together this year’s installment, decided to focus on “creepy eyes.”

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, she said it took her about half a day to find crazy-eyed animals of the deep sea. She had a lot to choose from. Over the last 25 years, MBARI’s remotely operated vehicles have collected 17,000 hours of video of the deep sea and the creatures that live there.

All of the animals featured in the images above, and the video below, were found at depths of 1,000 to 10,000 feet below the surface. I put information about how big they are and other interesting trivia in the captions above. You’ll find the video below, but those of you reading this story on a touch device may have to look here instead.

Happy Halloween!