Deep Sea Beasties

I've been doing a lot of research on deep sea organisms over the past few days via researching science articles (new species are being discovered all the time), images and watching the great David Attenborough documentaries Planet Earth, Blue Planet and Life in Cold Blood. They're so beautiful and I cried at Life in Cold Blood.

Through this research, various creatures from the deep have piqued my interest - I'm thinking of going for an eel/cephalopod type creature.

I feel so weird typing this with gloves and jumper on whilst it snows outside T_T

This is the Vampire Squid - a deep sea cephalopod. I couldn't find out why it was called the "Vampire" squid exactly but I guess it has something to do with the spiny cerri on the underside of it's tentacles. When threatened, the squid turns its tentacle "cloak" inside out and becomes a spiny mass (this is called the "pineapple").

This is a really cool defensive manouveur and certainly one I'd like to incorporate into my designs. Imagine being able to turn yourself inside out in-game *_*



This beauty is the Gulper Eel - it says it all on the tin really. The mouth can swallow other creatures the same size if not bigger than the eel itself and the stomach can expand to 10 times its original size. The eel has no teeth unlike the deep sea angler but doesn't need any if it can just swallow its prey whole (and alive...eew).



This is the Abyssal Cusk Eel - this picture doesn't do this beautiful creature any justice, so click the video below to see just how wonderfully it moves.




The way it moves is another thing I'd like to incorporate. I just like the way it is pure white and moves so gracefully - somewhat angelic. This element of grace is something lacking in lots of deep sea creatures (fab creatures, but not exactly pretty, are they?) which is what attracted me to this eel. As Animus - in her water guise - is still female I'd like to design something feminine.



This - from what I can find - is a Chimaera pup (there is a Chimaera in the above video) that was washed up during a recent tsunami in the east. Notice how it's body looked bruised and darkened (it's obviously dead, but would have died in this sort of pressure if it had survived being washed up. I feel sorry for it). There seem to be quite a few shark-looking creatures in the twilight zone and beyond (some measuring 8m long!) - if my creature is to survive the dark zones of the ocean, she will need to either be the top predator or be well equipped to deal with other predators. Deep sea creatures are constantly on the look for either a) food or b) mates and the player won't want to end up as option a.