Pictures: Surprising Creatures Found Deep off Australia

Sixgill Shark Attack
Photograph courtesy Queensland Brain Institute
Taking the scientists' bait, a sixgill shark's attack 4,600 feet (1,400 meters) below the surface of the Coral Sea off Australia (see map) is captured in a new video image.
Reaching roughly 13 feet (4 meters) long, the sixgill shark is among deep-sea species never before filmed at such depths, according to the the Queensland Brain Institute, which released the first images from new high-tech remote-control cameras this week.
Often referred to as prehistoric or a "living fossil" because of its resemblance to sharks that lived hundreds of millions of years ago, sixgills are being studied as part of the Deep Australia Project, an ongoing effort to discover the the evolutionary origins of human sight—making the sixgill's night vision of particular interest to researchers.
(Related: "Hundreds of New Reef Creatures Found in Australia.")
"This technology will help the discovery of deep-sea creatures' adaptations to the challenges of living at crushing depths and in freezing and dark water," project manager Kylie Greig said in a statement.
"Here they must find food and mates in the dark and avoid being eaten themselves. We are interested in the sensory systems used for this lifestyle."
—With reporting by Dave Hansford in Wellington, New Zealand
Published July 16, 2010
Nautiluses
Photograph courtesy Queesland Brain Institute
Mollusks such as nautiluses—pictured in the deep Coral Sea in a photo released this week—evolved eyes long before humans did, said the Deep Australia Project's leader, Justin Marshall.
(Related: "Eyeless Urchins 'See' With Spines.")
But oddly, "their eyes lack a lens and therefore operate like a pinhole camera. How is information processed to the brain?"
Peering into the eyes of nautiluses, which haven't changed in millions of years, could answer that question, as well as tell us much about our own brains, Marshall said.
For instance, the research could help scientists understand brain disorders that lead to conditions such as epilepsy, he said.
The Deep Australia Project's cameras can be programmed to record at specific times, or can run continuously for 72 hours.
Future models will feature motion-sensitive triggers, according to project leader Justin Marshall.
Published July 16, 2010
Deep-Sea Amphipod
Photograph courtesy Queensland Brain Institute
A deep-sea amphipod—a type of crustacean—stares down a remote-control camera in the Coral Sea in a 2006 Deep Australia Project picture.
Living more than 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) below the surface, such creatures must build shells to withstand pressures 140 times greater than those on land, experts say.
(Related: "Pictures: Hard-to-See Sea Creatures Revealed.")
Published July 16, 2010
Hairy Anglerfish
Photograph courtesy Queensland Brain Institute
A hairy anglerfish was snapped by remote cameras in 2006 as part of the Deep Australia Project.
The long hairs of the anglerfish—which carry sensory information to the fish's brain—could help neuroscientists better understand human physiology, said project researcher Andy Dunstan.
(Also see "New Species Pictures: Deep-Sea 'Jumbo Dumbo,' More.")
Published July 16, 2010
Deep-sea Anglerfish
Photograph courtesy Queensland Brain Institute
A deep-sea anglerfish feels—rather than sees—the remote camera that took its picture in 2006.
Lined with sensory studs, the fish's flanks detect vibrations that allow it to live and love in the endless dark of the Osprey Reef, about 6,500 feet (2,000 meters) beneath the Coral Sea.
(Related: "New Deep-Sea Creatures Found in Atlantic.")
Published July 16, 2010
Atolla Jellyfish
Photograph courtesy Queensland Brain Institute
Camera lights in the perennially dark depths of the Coral Sea reveal an atolla jellyfish's true colors in a 2006 picture.
During the ongoing Deep Australia Project, researchers have snapped a variety of odd creatures, including "prehistoric" six-gilled sharks, giant oil fish, swarms of crustaceans, and many unidentified fish.
(Also see "Pictures: Strange Sea Creatures Found off Greenland.")
Published July 16, 2010
Unidentified Crustacean
Photograph courtesy Queensland Brain Institute
These unidentified, bug-eyed oceanic crustaceans, photographed in 2006, are reminders reminder that humans are not the "pinnacle of evolution," said Deep Australia Project leader Justin Marshall.
"In sensory terms, [that's] far from true," Marshall said.
"By taking an approach to sensory systems based [on] ecology, but [which] also includes physiology, anatomy, behavior, and neural integration, we hope to decode signals and their intention in the animal kingdom."
(Related pictures: "Weird New Animals From Antarctica's Deep Seas.")
Published July 16, 2010
Big-scale Deep-sea Fish
Photograph courtesy Queensland Brain Institute
A big-scale deep sea fish (pictured in 2006), shows its nerve—or rather, dozens of them—as a lacy network beneath its skin.
The nerves alert the fish's brain to minute variations that could signal a meal, a mate, or an enemy.
(Related: "Pictures: Hard-to-See Sea Creatures Revealed.")
Published July 16, 2010
Hyperiid Amphipod
Photograph courtesy Queensland Brain Institute
The hyperiid amphipod Phronima—a type of small crustacean—sets up house inside a barrel-like, gelatinous sea creature called a tunicate in a 2006 picture.
When writers of the sci-fi classic Alien needed inspiration for their screen monsters, they looked no further than Phronima.
Published July 16, 2010
Periphilla Jellyfish
Photograph courtesy Queensland Brain Institute
A periphilla jellyfish (pictured in 2006) glows amid the gloom of the deep Coral Sea.
Filmed by remote cameras, the jellyfish and other deep-sea animals are "living fossils," according to Deep Australia Project scientists.
Studying the odd creatures may give new insight into how human nerve cells evolved.
Published July 16, 2010
Control Room
Photograph courtesy Queensland Brain Institute.
Scientists observe nautiluses about 2,000 feet (620 meters) beneath the Coral Sea via high-tech remote cameras installed in 2010.
In September the team will travel to the Peruvian Trench off South America, where they hope to encounter an elusive relative of the nautilus—the giant squid, titleholder of the world's largest nerve cell.
(Related pictures: "Giant Squid Get Extreme Plastic Surgery.")
Published July 16, 2010
Into the Wild
Photograph courtesy Queensland Brain Institute
Scientists from the Deep Australia Project prepare to release a number of chambered nautiluses into the Coral Sea in a picture released this week.
The team captured these "living fossils" to find out more about their biology before returning them to their deep-sea habitats.
"Learning more about these creatures' primitive eyes and brain could help neuroscientists to better understand human vision," project member Andy Dunstan said in a statement.
(More pictures: "New Species, 'Living Fossils' Found in Atlantic.)
Published July 16, 2010