Bizarre marine creatures have been caught on camera by Australian scientists hundreds of metres below the surface on the Great Barrier Reef.

Researchers from the Queensland Brain Institute used remote-controlled cameras that sat on the sea floor, 1,400m (4,600ft) below the surface.

Images of ancient six-gilled sharks, giant oil fish, anglerfish (pictured) and many unidentified sea creatures were among those captured, said lead researcher Professor Justin Marshall.

The mission, known as the Deep Australia project, used special low-light sensitive cameras that had never been deployed in the country.

Osprey Reef is part of the Coral Sea Conservation Zone, described by Prof Marshall as "an area of high conservation importance".

"We simply do not know what life is down there and our cameras can now record the behaviour and life in Australia's largest biosphere - the deep-sea," he said.

The scientists said the research work had become more urgent in the wake of recent oil spills affecting the Great Barrier Reef, and the impact of global warming.