Image: Nerida Wilson/University of California, San Diego. The clusterwink snail, recently described in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, shines its light through a magnifying shell, making itself look more imposing. Every year, researchers capture incredible footage of alien-looking animals. They float just above the seafloor looking for food, which is usually snails and worms. If you're looking for bizarre creatures that defy explanation, there is no better place to look than the deep sea. The small creature is just about 8 inches tall. Published By Julia Lynn Rubin mantaphoto/iStock We have only explored about 5 of our planet's oceans, meaning there are still millions of rare sea animals left for us to. Here are some of the prettiest - and strangest - glowing creatures of the seas. The dumbo octopus, whose actual name is Grimpoteuthis, lives on the ocean floor at extreme depths up to 13,000 feet. Many of these animals live thousands of meters deep and are difficult for scientists to find and study. The deep-sea zone, beginning at a depth of 650 feet and plunging to 36,000 feet, contains some of the world’s most elusive, unique marine animals. They were beautiful, and we had never seen. Glowing helps attract mates, lure prey or confound predators. When my brother was a toddler my dad went scuba diving and brought us back two perfect urchin seashells he found. Scientists operating an ROV at a depth of 3,200 feet (975 m) in Monterey Bay, California. The light tends to green and blue, colors that travel far in seawater. In November, MBARI released rare video footage of a giant phantom jellyfish ( Stygiomedusa gigantea ). Researchers estimate that between 80 and 90 percent of deep-dwelling animals are bioluminous, creating light by mixing the pigment luciferin with luciferase, the enzyme that makes it glow. At first glance, the gulper eel might look like a pretty regular eel, but once it opens its mouth, your jaw will surely drop in amazement.

While a handful of land animals can create their own light, homemade luminescence is the rule rather than the exception in the open ocean's dark waters.

Beautiful rare deep sea creatures