16 Photos Of Nightmare-Inducing Sea Creatures That Had My Editor Saying, "Audrey, I Hate This Post So Much"
1.Last week, a new species was discovered. This is a strawberry feather star. It's about eight inches long, lives in Antarctica, and has 20 tentacles. It's spooky!!
And if you're wondering why it's called a "strawberry feather star" and not a "slithery slippy sea weirdo," it's because of the base of the tentacles which is shaped like a strawberry. Now, I'm always hyped when new species are discovered because hey, the Earth is amazing.
But I think there is a line between "useful tendrils" and "creepy crawlies" so here, in my very astute biological opinion, have too many freakin' arms (strawberry feather star included):
2.The bigfin squid is on this list with tentacles that are 20 feet long. It can be found a few miles under the ocean, a place you will never ever find me.
3.The tripod fish only has two extra "arms" which is two too many for a fish. Its rays at the top act as antennae and the fins at the bottom act as a placeholder. I don't like them.
4.Here's another star for you, a sunflower star, which, doesn't look as creepy as the strawberry feather star until you turn it over and realize it has 15,000 tube feet and, if its arm separates, the sea star can regrow it...and the arm can regrow a sea star, too.
5.The Portuguese man o' war's tentacles can extend up to 100 feet, making me retreat further inland. These preposterously long tentacles are also venomous.
6.This supergiant amphipod, which is found in the deep sea. Amphipods have between four and six pairs of legs, but I'm not a fan of how leggy their tail-end looks, too.
7.This sea spider which is bigger than a dinner plate and breathes out of its legs.
8.This radiolarian minesweeper protist that has one cell and yet, seven legs.
I do kind of have to hand it to MN (mother nature), this one's pretty cool.
9.That little protist was your cute break. Back to your regularly scheduled terror. Here's a giant phantom jelly with 33-foot arms looking like an ocean version of the grim reaper.
10.Here's another heaping helping of hell no, the giant isopod with 14 LEGS. We're outmatched 7:1. The Monterey Bay Aquarium apparently has a touch tank for them so maybe they're sweeter than they look. I'm not willing to give them a chance, but I can appreciate them for winning over human hearts and their impressive Salvador Dalí mustache.
11.These deep-sea basket stars who saw A Nightmare Before Christmas and said, "What if I could have legs that look like trees in Halloweentown?" Each of its arms are covered in tiny hooks and sticky mucus to catch prey.
12.This chambered nautilus which I can respect for being around for 150 million years, but I feel like it has an unfair advantage with 90 TENTACLES.
13.On land, there are plenty of appendages to worry about. Coconut crabs, which I feel like have the evolutionary ability to kick our butts with those gigantic limbs. Here's a whole video instead of a photo so you can see A). how fast they move and B.) the sound their big ol' crab legs make.
14.The English sundew, a carnivorous plant with sticky tentacle leaves that trap bugs.
15.This hickory horned devil caterpillar, which, despite being beautiful AND harmless, can grow up to a foot long, which is, IMO, too big for something with 16 legs.
