Burgundy and bizarre: Deep-sea creature looks like a roast chicken and eats poop

A weird ocean creature that looks like a chicken carcass lives 1,600 feet below the surface. It has a strange appearance and derives its name from how it looks. Called "the headless chicken monster", it is burgundy in colour. It is also known as the headless chicken fish and the Spanish dancer. What's strange about it?

This strange ocean animal is actually a deep-sea cucumber resembling a chicken carcass that seems to have come alive in water. It lives far below the surface, typically deeper than 1,600 ft (500 m) on the seafloor.

It is deep red in colour and measures up to 9.8 inches. Its size adds to the intrigue around it, because this is approximately how big a roast chicken is. Its body is covered in webbed, fin-like structures that help it swim.

This sea cucumber remains a mystery for scientists since studying it isn't easy. It is physically extremely fragile and can be easily damaged when researchers try to collect its samples. It eats dead plankton and their faeces.

The way it eats is also extremely fascinating. This red sea creature crawls along the seafloor using appendages called "tube feet". Using them, it scoops up sediment and puts it in his mouth. The headless chicken monsters are trying to retrieve and feed on organic matter in the sediment. This is an extremely difficult, energy-intensive process.

This “ploughing” behaviour helps keep the habitat healthy by clearing and aerating the sediment. Another way it swims is by holding itself in an upright position and flapping fin-like structures that cover the top and bottom of its body.

This method of swimming helps it escape predators and find new feeding zones. When it wants to move above the regular height, it comes up with a unique strategy of pooping to lighten itself for lift-off.