Pictured: The incredible deep-sea fish discovered under the Great Barrier Reef



A deep-sea anglerfish with its razor-sharp teeth





You wouldn't want to bump into any of these fish while snorkelling on holiday.



But these amazing pictures of creatures of the deep sea have been captured by scientists working at record low underwater levels underneath the Great Barrier Reef.



Experts from the University of Queensland's brain institute in Australia used high-tech cameras to glimpse at life almost 1,500 metres under the sea.

Marine biologist Justin Marshall, who led the team, said prehistoric six-gilled sharks, giant oil fish and swarms of crustaceans were among the species captured on camera.

But they also filmed and took photos of many unidentified fish at the site of Osprey Reef, 220 miles North-East of Cairns, in Australia.

Professor Marshall said: 'Osprey Reef is one of the many reefs in the Coral Sea Conservation Zone, which has been identified as an area of high conservation importance.

'Therefore it is paramount that we identify the ecosystems and species inhabiting the area.'

He added: 'As well as understanding life at the surface, we need to plunge off the walls of Osprey to describe the deep-sea life that lives down to 2,000 metres, beyond the reach of sunlight.

'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.'



The team of scientists captured the sea creatures using special low-light sensitive, custom designed remote controlled cameras, which sat on the sea floor.

They spent 10 days filming in the deep-sea last month and say the findings could be useful for researchers working in other scientific fields.

Professor Marshall said: 'Learning more about these creatures' primitive eyes and brain could help neuroscientists better understand human vision.

A deep-sea anglerfish in Cairns, Australia discovered more than a kilometre beneath the surface

'We could also design better cameras and illumination systems because, as we've seen, nature often gets there first.'

The scientists working on the Deep Australia project also collected amazing footage of the Nautilus - a relative of squid or octopus - that still lives in a shell as they have done for millions of years.

Researchers measured the 'living fossils' to find out more about their biology before returning them to the sea.

Professor Marshall said most of our knowledge on how nerve cells function and communicate was first pioneered through work on squid giant nerve cells.

He said: 'We are now returning to these original model systems, both for their own intrinsic interest and also to better understand brain disorders which lead to conditions such as epilepsy.'

All the sea creatures live in a dark world where the pressure is 140 times greater than on land, but are well adapted to their environment.

A deep sea jellyfish Atolla and a deep sea amphipod Phronima were among the strange creatures discovered in the depths



Professor Marshall said: 'They are slow moving, efficient swimmers because they exist in a world where food is sparse and they need to conserve energy.

'Some of these animals that live in the deep ocean only feed once or twice a year. It's not like you've got salmon rushing about or tuna flying past at high speed.'

Many species had also evolved to produce their own light because sunlight fails to penetrate more than 800 metres beneath the sea surface.

They produce light similar to a firefly and use it as a defence mechanism, to communicate and to see.

Professor Marshall said it would be years before scientists would be able to say if any of the creatures captured on film were new species.

He said: 'There will certainly be animals there that we didn't know were there, but whether there will be any new species for science, I'm not sure yet.

'But it is very often the case with these kinds of expeditions that you do find new life.'

A trip to South America is now being planned where the team will film and capture deep-sea species 2,000 metres below sea level.

One creature they hope to encounter is the Giant Squid, which has one of the world's largest nerve cells.