Deep Ocean#2 – Giant Amphipod

Deep Ocean#2
The giant amphipod you see here is called Cystisoma. They have been found at depths of 500m – 800m and can get to 12 cm long. The body is mostly transparent, to hide from predators. Transparency is one big advantage at a depth where there are no good hiding places. The big red oval thing is the stomach and the big layer of “meshed” red stuff in the forehead are the eyes. Well it’s actually just one big eye which looks mostly straight upwards. It is so big so it can suck in as much of the little light as possible.

The drawings are based on screenshots I took from the Blue Planet documentary. I can only recommend to watch it. Currently also available on Netflix.

Audiobook which accompanied me during this piece: “The Bone Tree” by Greg Iles.