8 Most Unusual Creatures You Can See Diving

1. Flamboyant Cuttlefish (Metasepia pfefferi)

A cuttlefish that walks. Using modified lower arms as 'legs,' the flamboyant cuttlefish walks across the seafloor while pulsing waves of neon yellow, red, and purple across its skin. Its mantle tissue is highly toxic, making it one of the few toxic cephalopods. Found on black sand in Lembeh (Indonesia), Anilao (Philippines), and parts of northern Australia.

2. Mimic Octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus)

Described only in 1998. The mimic octopus mimics the shapes and swimming patterns of specific toxic animals — flatfish, lionfish, sea snakes — when threatened. Found in Lembeh and throughout the Indonesian archipelago on sand and silt.

3. Hairy Frogfish (Antennarius striatus)

Covered in skin filaments ('hairs') that make it look exactly like a sponge or piece of coral rubble. It uses a modified dorsal spine topped with a fleshy lure to attract small fish, then engulfs them in a strike measured at 6 milliseconds — the fastest strike of any vertebrate. The hairy frogfish swallows prey up to its own body size.

4. Bobbit Worm (Eunice aphroditois)

A polychaete worm that buries itself in sand up to 3 metres deep, with 5 antennae protruding from the substrate. When prey triggers the antennae, the worm launches upward explosively, seizing prey with scissor-like jaws documented cutting fish cleanly in half. Named after the 1993 Lorena Bobbitt case by the researcher who found it.

5. Wunderpus Octopus (Wunderpus photogenicus)

A long-armed octopus with fixed patterns of white bands and spots on a brown background — unusual in an animal group that typically changes colour dynamically. The species name ('photogenicus') refers to its photogenic qualities. Found across the Indo-Pacific in sand and rubble from 3-50m.

6. Mantis Shrimp (Stomatopoda)

Not a shrimp and not a mantis. A stomatopod crustacean with two appendages it uses to strike prey at speeds of 23 metres per second — the fastest appendage movement of any animal. The strike creates cavitation bubbles that collapse with enough force to stun or kill prey even if the appendage misses. Found in burrows in sand and rubble reefs across the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean.

7. Psychedelic Frogfish (Histiophryne psychedelica)

Described only in 2009 from Ambon Bay, Indonesia. It has a pattern of white-circling lines radiating from the eyes across an orange-pink body. It moves by pushing off the substrate with its pectoral fins in a bouncing walk and jets water from gill openings for propulsion. Known only from Ambon.

8. Rhinopias Scorpionfish (Rhinopias spp.)

Three species found in the Indo-Pacific; all extraordinarily camouflaged. They sit motionless in specific colour-matched locations — on yellow sponges, red algae, purple sea rods — for days at a time. Among the most sought-after macro photography subjects in the world.