Monsters of the Deep The ocean is full of mysteries and amazing creatures. Since the first sailors left their home shores and set off for adventure, stories have been told of the strange and wondrous beasts encountered on the open ocean. With only glimpses and imagination-enhanced stories to go on, humans have made many an interesting creature into a monster. The truth is, the ocean's scariest creatures inhabit such extreme depths that humans are rarely, if ever, threatened by them. That does not mean they are not the stuff of nightmares. Consider, if you will, the following frightful fiends.

Atlantic Hagfish
Part eel, part sea snake, this sea serpent may have inspired many stories. Lacking the scales that most fish have, the hagfish secretes the most amazing slime to protect itself. This slime may be used to suffocate predators. The slime includes small fibers that make it almost impossible to remove. But the hagfish's truly horrific nature lies in what it does to its prey, not its predators. With an excellent sense of smell that compensates for almost total blindness, the hagfish will locate and latch on to a victim. With a circle of razor sharp teeth, the hagfish bores a hole into the side of its now-doomed prey. Once the hole is complete, the hagfish just welcomes itself inside for a meal of fish innards. It essentially eats its prey from the inside out.

Like other deep-sea monsters, however, hagfish are seldom a nuisance to humans. They live most of their lives at depths of up to 5,600 feet. In fact, they prefer a soft sea bottom so they can quickly bury themselves to hide from threats.

Gulper Eel
Another, more hideous, fiend of the deep is the gulper eel. This creepy critter is part eel and part giant pouch. Like a pelican's enormous pouch-shaped mouth, the mouth of the gulper eel can open quite wide to gulp prey. It has a long tail tipped with a glowing organ that is used to lure in prey. Thanks in part to its tail, the gulper can reach up to six feet in length. Because its tail is so thin, it is not able to pursue prey with any speed, but it can scoop up hundreds of small crustaceans or shrimp in one bite. Often swimming through these prey groups with its mouth wide open, its large jaws allow it to feed on squid and other creatures much larger than itself.

Gulper eels have only been studied because they sometimes get caught in the nets of fishermen. The depths they inhabit make it quite difficult for scientists to study them. They can go as deep as 6,000 feet, well beyond the abilities of humans to pursue them.

Vampire Squid
Perhaps the most frightening of the deep-sea monsters is also the smallest. The vampire squid reaches lengths of only six inches. It is also one of the most ancient of the deep-sea monsters. Scientists believe it to be the last surviving member of its order.