Secrets of the deep sea

What appears to be an ancient gold treasure is a magnified crustacean, a tiny copepod collected this year from the Atlantic abyss Photograph: Bunzow/Corgosinho/guardian.co.uk

at 1000 meters and below: abundant colorful coral Photograph: guardian.co.uk

At 2000 to 2500 meters: A bizarre, elongated orange animal identified as Neocyema - only the 5th specimen of the fish ever caught and never before on thye mid-Atlentic Ridge Photograph: guardian.co.uk

This undated photo released by Census of Marine Life and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution shows a transparent sea cucumber, Enypniastes, creeping forward on its many tentacles at about 2 cm per minute while sweeping detritus-rich sediment into its mouth at 2,750 meters in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Thousands of marine species eke out an existence in the ocean's pitch-black depths by feeding on the snowlike decaying matter that cascades down, and even sunken whale bones, according to a report released Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009. Photograph: Larry Madin/Wood Hole Oceanographic Institution/guardian.co.uk

Embargoed to 1700 Sunday November 22. Undated Census of Marine Life handout photo of a large 'Dumbo' octopod, which researchers believe may prove new to science, collected by Census of Marine Life scientists during a voyage to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. . Issue date: Sunday November 22, 2009. Thousands of strange animals that exist in eternal darkness miles below the surface of the oceans have been catalogued by for the first time by scientists. The Census of Marine Life, a major international project surveying the oceans, recorded 5,722 species living at depths greater than 0.62 miles where the sun never shines. Photograph: David Shale/MAR-ECO/guardian.co.uk

Embargoed to 1700 Sunday November 22. Undated Census of Marine Life handout photo of a large 'Dumbo' octopod, which researchers believe may prove new to science, collected by Census of Marine Life scientists during a voyage to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Issue date: Sunday November 22, 2009. Thousands of strange animals that exist in eternal darkness miles below the surface of the oceans have been catalogued by for the first time by scientists. The Census of Marine Life, a major international project surveying the oceans, recorded 5,722 species living at depths greater than 0.62 miles where the sun never shines. Photograph: David Shale/MAR-ECO/guardian.co.uk

At 1700- 4300 metres : Coryphaenoides brevibarbis with tiny bones in its ear, known as otholiths, that have growth bands countable like tree rings to reveal the fish's age Photograph: Rebecca Hunter/guardian.co.uk

This undated photo released by Census of Marine Life and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution shows engineers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution recovering the hybrid underwater robot Nereus aboard the 135 foot RV Cape Hatteras in deteriorating weather conditions above the Mid-Cayman Spreading Center in the Caribbean Sea. Thousands of marine species eke out an existence in the ocean's pitch-black depths by feeding on the snowlike decaying matter that cascades down, and even sunken whale bones, according to a report released Sunday, November 22, 2009. Photograph: Chris German/guardian.co.uk