The ‘headless chicken monster’

Some of the world’s most unusual creatures can be found at the dark depths of the ocean floor.

And, lurking in the Gulf of Mexico, NOAA researchers have spotted what could be the strangest yet.

A remotely operated vehicle exploring the region has captured a look at a bizarre sea cucumber as it fed on the seafloor – and, with its oddly truncated body and wing-like protrusions, it’s no wonder it's come to be known as the ‘headless chicken monster.

The so-called headless chicken monster, a sea cucumber called Enypniastes eximia, was spotted during Dive 11 of the NOAA Okeanos mission in the Gulf of Mexico.

And, it’s far from being the only strange creature the researchers observed.

Before wrapping up the expedition for the year, the team also captured footage of deep-sea crabs, sea spiders, metallic-looking squid, and a colony of pink ‘ice worms.’

Incredible footage of the bizarre red cucumber shows how it ‘walks’ across the surface of the seafloor to feast on the sediments, using tentacles that roll out from underneath its body like feet.

‘These tentacles, which are modified tube feet, scoop in the sediment, and they are only taking in materials from the surface of the sediment, which is higher in organic material,’ one of the researchers explains in the footage of the encounter.

The name Enypniastes means dreamer, according to the experts, which they say is ‘certainly an apt name for the way that sea cucumbers swim.’

Undulating through the water or slowly crawling across the floor, the strange sea cucumber at first appears graceful.

But, when viewed from a different angle, it takes on a much more sinister appearance.

In one clip from the footage, the blood-red creature looks as though it has wings and the equivalent of tail feathers – and, the wrinkled nub at the top of its body looks like the site where its head should have been.

Daily Mail/GY