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Simply astonishing. The diversity of species that live beyond any hint of sunlight has astounded the team of international scientists as they near the end of a ten year deep sea census of marine life. The team has finally released a treasure trove of new photos and video from the deep sea census that will awe and amaze. Above, scientists appear to be examining -- or maybe cuddling and petting -- one of the largest and cutest of the deep sea species: a dumbo octopod, named for the oversized, dumbo-like ears it uses for swimming (photo overleaf). Our pick of the best of the photos, released today, of some 17,650 species now known to thrive in the watery depths follows.  The dumbo octopod, among the largest deep sea creatures at lengths up to five feet, hovers cutely before the camera, flapping ears like a cartoon elephant. Courtesy of David Shale  An odd sea cucumber found at 2,750 m deep in the Northern Gulf of Mexico swims slowly up the length of its own tentacles. Moving at only 2cm per minute, the translucent creature sucks up a meal of detritus-rich sediments collected on the tentacles. Courtesy of Larry Madin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution A golden copepod looks like a coin from a lost treasure until the camera gets up close to see magnified detail of this insect-like marine crustacean. Fully 99 percent of some 680 copepod specimens collected in the deep sea census were new to science. Courtesy of © Bünzow/Corgosinho This is the first photograph ever made of a Neocyema on the mid-Atlantic ridge, and only the 5th specimen ever caught of the bizarre, elongated orange fish. Courtesy of David ShaleSource: Treehugger.com
 A tiny chameleon species with a scaly horn atop its snout and blue dots on its limbs has been discovered in Tanzanian forests. "It would sit quite easily on one finger," said Andrew Marshall of the University of York, adding the chameleon's body spans just 2.8 inches (about 72 mm) with a tail of nearly equal length. Marshall first spotted the animal, now called Kinyongia magomberae, while surveying monkeys in the Magombera forest. He disturbed a twig snake that had been eating one of the chameleons. Once startled, the snake dropped its already dead prey. So far, four specimens of the species have been observed in Tanzania's Magombera forest, which is unprotected, and the Mwanihana forest within the Udzungwa Mountains National Park. Full story...Source: Yahoo! NewsImage credit: Andrew Marshall/Livescience.com
 A new amphibian species can survive on land with no nostrils, lungs, or legs, say researchers who discovered the bizarre beast. The creature, found in Guyana, is part of the wormlike group of amphibians known as caecilians. Only one other caecilian species is known to live without lungs. In general, the presence of lungs is among the key characteristics that make amphibians different from fish. Until recently, scientists thought salamanders were the only amphibians that lack lungs. But in 1995 researchers found the first known lungless caecilian, and in 2008 another team reported a tiny, land-dwelling, lungless frog. The new species is even more of a surprise, because the animal-named Caecilita iwokramae-is strikingly different from the other known lungless caecilian, the study authors note. Caecilita lives on land and is just 4.4 inches (11 centimeters) long, while its lungless relative is fully aquatic and reaches 27.5 inches (70 centimeters) in length. Full story...Source: National GeographicImage credit: Marvalee Wake, University of California, Berkeley
 Japanese marine researchers said on Tuesday they had found and successfully filmed a young coelacanth a rare type of fish known as "a living fossil" in deep water off Indonesia. The creature was found on October 6 at a depth of 161 metres (528 feet) in Manado Bay off Sulawesi Island, where the Indonesian coelacanth was first discovered, according to the researchers. Video footage showed the 31.5 centimetre (12.6-inch) coelacanth, coloured blue with white spots, swimming slowly among rocks on the seabed for about 20 minutes. Video Footage
Full story...Source: Yahoo! Science NewsImage credit: AFP/AQUAMARINE FUKUSHIMA
 More than a mouthful for most coralA coral is recorded eating a jellyfish for the first time, in intriguing photographs taken by scientists. Coral usually feed on tiny plankton as well as products provided by photosynthetic algae. Yet the photos reveal a stationary mushroom coral sucking in a large moon jellyfish. Researchers believe the ability to feed on a variety of food sources like jellyfish may give the coral an advantage in a changing world. The researchers publish their findings in the journal Coral Reefs. Full story...Source: BBC Science NewsImage credit: Omri Bornstein/BBC
 These fish were photographed at a depth of 7,560mThe deepest living fish ever spotted in the southern hemisphere have been caught on camera. The bizarre-looking pink creatures were photographed at a depth of 7,560m (24,800ft), swimming in the Kermadec Trench off the coast of New Zealand. An international team has been studying this area using a submersible, built to withstand immense pressures. Last year, the same team recorded another fish at 7,700m (25,300ft) - the deepest ever filmed. These were found in the Japan Trench, which is in the Pacific, north of the equator. Both expeditions form part of the Hadeep project, which aims to expand our knowledge of life in the oceanic trenches, the deepest parts of the ocean floor. Full story...Source: BBC Science NewsImage credit: The Hadeep/BBC
 Researchers from the University of Hawaii have discovered eight new species of Hyposmocoma moths on three islands in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said yesterday.The researchers, Patrick Schmitz and Daniel Rubinoff, believe the newly discovered species may be descendants of species that colonized the Hawaiian archipelago more than 5 million years ago, before Kauai emerged, a USFWS news release said. "The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are remnants of islands that once rose to 3,000 feet or more in elevation and supported drastically different and more diverse terrestrial plants and animals than are found on the mostly low-lying atolls today," the release said. "We are continuing our research now, but it is possible that the ancient ancestor of the now uniquely Hawaiian Hyposmocoma moths may have landed on a young Northwestern Hawaiian Island and evolved over millions of years into several lineages, which hopped down the island chain, spawning a diversity of species," Rubinoff said. Hyposmocoma moths are found only in the Hawaiian Islands and include more than 315 different species. The moths identified in this study were reared from larvae collected on Laysan Island, Mokumanamana and Nihoa in 2004, 2007 and 2008. Source: Honoluluadvertiser.comImage credit:
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