The crystal amphipod (Cystisoma spp.) combines invisible armor and giant eyes for a winning strategy for survival in the ocean’s twilight zone. Many other amphipods living in this environment are hitchhikers, taking advantage of nearby jellies for food and shelter, but Cystisoma swim freely in the open water. Living out in the open requires the crystal amphipod to become almost completely transparent. With the help of MBARI’s ships and deep-sea robots, scientists have revealed the secret to the

At 5,300 meters (17,400 feet) in the hadal zone – deeper than 99.99% of the ocean – a baited 4K drop-cam recorded the clearest footage ever of a live supergiant amphipod (Alicella gigantea), almost 40 cm long. These blind, colorless monsters live under pressure that would crush a car. When the camera’s LEDs turned on, the amphipod froze… then deliberately switched off its own bioluminescent organs one by one and drifted motionless into the darkness – a defense mechanism never documented before.