This swimming sea cucumber looks like a chicken carcass, eats poop floating in the water and uses defecation as a means of propulsion.
If you happened upon this bizarre creature in the ocean, you could be forgiven for thinking someone had flung a chicken carcass into the sea and it was bobbing along on the current — hence its nickname, “the headless chicken monster.”
But this strange creature is actually a sea cucumber that lives deep beneath the surface, generally below 1,600 feet (500 meters) and down to the seafloor.
It is a deep burgundy color, has webbed structures on its body for swimming and grows to a length of up to 9.8 inches (25 centimeters) — roughly the same size as a small roast chicken.
Scientists know surprisingly little about the deep-sea cucumber, nicknamed the headless chicken monster, due to its delicate, jelly-like body that is easily damaged during sample collection.
Observed crawling along the seafloor, this rare deep-sea creature uses specialized appendages called tube feet to scoop up sediment and feed. A video from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows how these sea cucumbers sift through the sediment to extract organic material, an essential process for ocean floor ecosystems.
Similar to ploughing a field, their constant movement aerates and cleans the seafloor, keeping the marine habitat healthy. However, getting nutrients this way is no easy task — according to NOAA scientists, the animal must pass a huge amount of sediment through its digestive tract to extract minimal nutrition.
In addition to crawling, the headless chicken monster can swim gracefully through the water column by holding itself upright and flapping its fin-like lobes. This swimming behavior helps it evade predators, explore new feeding grounds, and relocate when needed — and it’s a sight that fascinates marine biologists and ocean explorers alike.
Interestingly, this gelatinous deep-sea animal is neutrally buoyant but has a quirky trick to gain extra lift. When it needs to ascend, it sometimes lightens its load by defecating mid-swim, a surprising adaptation that adds to its bizarre charm.
The headless chicken monster’s unique lifestyle and ecological role make it one of the most fascinating deep-sea creatures ever filmed, offering scientists a rare glimpse into life in the ocean’s darkest depths.