Of all the ghostly creatures lurking in our oceans , a recently spotted deep-sea cusk eel species cosplaying as a giant phantom tadpole might just be our new favorite. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

This bizarre creature was seen during E/V Nautilus ’ latest expedition, which aims to explore the previously uncharted deep-sea areas of the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. It’s not unusual for the teams aboard the ship to give enthusiastic commentary on what they see with their remotely operated vehicles during their expeditions (it’s one of our favorite things about them), but this fish really did deserve all the wows that they gave it.

While exploring the seafloor, the team spotted something eerie swimming in t

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