Explore the seafloor

Into the Deep exhibit

A diversity of life thrives on the seafloor. Thousands of feet below the surface, long-legged crabs, colorful corals, and pancake-shaped octopus make their homes on the seafloor. Steep underwater mountains and hydrothermal vents create oases rich with life.

Muddy plains

Miles of mud are home to many. Muddy plains span the globe and support an amazing diversity of life. Octopuses, crabs, fishes, anemones, and sea stars all make their homes on the seafloor. They catch food that falls from above or drifts by in the currents.

A shot underwater of a muddy ocean floor with a bright orange fish scooting along the bottom

Animals that live in the muddy plains

North Pacific bigeye octopus

Do you spy a big eye? This North Pacific bigeye octopus is common on the seafloor. It dines on fishes, shrimp, and crabs. Those big eyes help to spot dinner in deep waters, where there’s little light.

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Sea spider

Sea spiders swim and crawl along sandy seafloors around the world.

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Sea toad

To save energy, this fish “walks” on large fins instead of swimming.

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Pink frogmouth

This fish sits on the seafloor and waits for their next meal.

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A singular big eye octopus with all its arms stretched out showing only one eye in dark black water

Do you spy a big eye?

This small octopus is common on the seafloor. It dines on fishes, shrimp, and crabs. Those big eyes help to spot dinner in deep waters, where there’s little light.

Snailfish looking straight in dark water, the fish has a tentacle like fins on chin to dig along the muddy seafloor

Frilled fins dig for dinner

See those frilly fins? A salmon snailfish uses the fins on its chin to feel for a meal. It digs into the muddy seafloor to find small crustaceans, like amphipods and crabs.

A giant isopod with antenna and a grey round body as it crawls along a dark sandy floor

Deep-sea giants

Giant deep-sea isopods are related to the tiny roly-poly bugs in your backyard. In the deep sea, some animals grow larger than their shallow-water kin. A giant size may help with survival in icy cold water and crushing pressure.

Seamount

Steep mountains rise from the seafloor. Seamounts deflect currents and gather food for many animals. Their rocky slopes support corals and sponges in need of a hard surface to settle on and grow. Communities of fishes and invertebrates seek shelter in these lush gardens of life.

A garden of florametra a fern-like looking plant along the rocks of the seafloor — © MBARI

Animals that live in the seamount

Basket star

A basket star depends on passing currents for food.

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Longspine snipefish

A snipefish will suck down almost any animal that fits into its tiny mouth.

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Feather star

A feather star settles on the deep seafloor and swims when startled.

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Lumpfish

These stumpy, lumpy swimmers cling to rocks with a special suction disc.

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Seamounts need our protection. Life on seamounts develops so slowly that damaged habitats could take centuries to recover. Drilling, mining, and fishing can put corals, sponges, and the animals they shelter at risk. We can help safeguard these special places by supporting protections for ocean habitats.

Exploring the seafloor

How does this octopus garden grow?
The largest octopus garden ever discovered is at the base of a seamount off the coast of central California. Scientists think warm water seeping from the seafloor draws thousands of octopus moms here to nest and rear their young. MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) partners with the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary to explore Davidson Seamount and inspire its protection.

Hot vents
Deep-sea vents are a world unlike any other. Volcanic activity on the deep seafloor creates scattered oases called hydrothermal vents. Rocky chimneys belch superheated water and chemicals that tiny bacteria turn into energy. Those bacteria fuel a community of tubeworms, crabs, fishes, clams, and more.

Whalefall community

When a dead whale sinks, a new community springs to life. Food is scarce on the seafloor. When a dead whale lands on the mud, a new community moves in and the feast begins. Hungry sharks, crabs, and worms come to dine on a buffet of blubber, baleen, and bones.

The underbelly of a spider crab against the backdrop of a sandy ocean bottom with whale remains

Who lives in the whalefall community?

Japanese spider crab

A spider crab travels easily over the mud on long limber legs.

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Elephant fish

That “trunk” on the tip of this fish’s snout is covered in sensory pores to search the seafloor and find prey.

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Giant isopod

The giant isopod roams the deep seafloor feasting on fish carcasses and other debris that fall from above.

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Bone-eating worm

Discovered in 2004, this new species of tube worm feeds on the bones of dead whales that fall to the bottom of the deep sea.

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Explore more about whalefalls

Live cam

Spider Crab Cam

Watch our Spider Crab Cam and see some of the largest deep-sea crabs in our Into the Deep exhibition.

Watch cam

Download

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Map

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Follow MBARI’s discoveries

MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) asks and answers questions about the deep sea in our backyard—and beyond.

Dive deeper into the Into the Deep exhibit

General content

Down to the deep

A wide world of blue swirls with life. The journey to the deep sea starts in sunlit waters near the surface. …

General content

The midwater

Between sunlit water and the deep seafloor lies the midwater.

General content

On the horizon

Keep exploring with behind-the-scenes chats with staff and scientists, online courses, stories, and more.

Animals & the ocean

Deep sea animals A to Z

From football-sized giant isopods to transparent jellies that glow, the deep sea is brimming with life.