Creature Critic

We rank the weird, wild & wonderful creatures of Earth Footage never AI, never staged. All original videos filmed in the wild by Canadian naturalists Shandon Mitchell & Larissa Russell.

[creaturecritic]

Grain-of-Rice Sized Shrimp Camouflaged on a Lyre Gorgonian Fan Boschma’s gorgonian shrimp, sneaking around on a lyre gorgonian fan. 🦐🌿 These grain-of-rice sized shrimp are masters of camouflage. Their colors and patterns match the gorgonian coral they live on so closely that predators (and divers) can easily miss them. They spend their whole lives creeping along the branches of the fan, picking at tiny food particles drifting by in the current. Small, sneaky, and perfectly adapted to life in the coral forest. 7/10 #CreatureCritic #GorgonianShrimp #BoschmasShrimp #MacroDiving #UnderwaterOddities #WeirdWildlife #CoralReef #OceanCreatures #ReefLife #ThailandReefs via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8o7CDS7ys4

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10/10 cutest puffer fish 🐡 via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARoBJh1Awxs

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Flatworm Raiding Fish Eggs 👀 Yes… those are hundreds of tiny fish eyes staring up from their inside their eggs 👀🐟And they’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. Right in the middle of it, a Pseudobiceros gratus is taking full advantage of an easy meal 🍽️ Flatworms like this are soft-bodied predators, gliding slowly but feeding efficiently on egg masses and other delicate prey. No chase needed. Points deducted for making me sad for those innocent eyes! 4/10.  #PseudobicerosGratus #Flatworm #MarineFlatworm #MacroDiving #WeirdWildlife #UnderwaterOddities #ReefLife #ScubaLife #OceanCreatures #creaturecritic via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrdyroyG32Y

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Oliviar's Squat Lobster - Main Character Energy Oliviar's Squat Lobster is one of my favourite characters in the Philippines reefs 🦞 This ridiculous guy looks like his claw pinched a live wire, and just decided to rock the bad hair day forever ⚡ Points for making me laugh, I love the little beastly eyes judging me from the corals. Points off for slurping into the hole whenever I try to film them! 6/10 😂 #CreatureCritic, #WeirdWildlife, #BadHairDayAnimals, #CrustaceanChaos, #UnderwaterOddities #maincharacter #scubaenergy #scuba #funnyanimals via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EChq0jTQw7M

[creaturecritic]

Oliviar's Squat Lobster - Main Character Energy Oliviar's Squat Lobster is one of my favourite characters in the Philippines reefs 🦞 This ridiculous guy looks like his claw pinched a live wire, and just decided to rock the bad hair day forever ⚡ Points for making me laugh, I love the little beastly eyes judging me from the corals. Points off for slurping into the hole whenever I try to film them! 6/10 😂 #CreatureCritic, #WeirdWildlife, #BadHairDayAnimals, #CrustaceanChaos, #UnderwaterOddities #maincharacter #scubaenergy #scuba #funnyanimals via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55FKW4w9Y2k

[creaturecritic]

Skeleton Shrimp Living on a Glowing Blue Bell Sea Squirt Colony In this video we have not one, but two animals on display! Perched on a glowing cluster of blue bell sea squirts is a “large” 1 cm tall Skeleton shrimp 🦐🔵 The sea squirts are actually chordates—distant relatives of vertebrates like us—busy filtering seawater for plankton 🌊 Meanwhile, the shrimp takes full advantage of the setup, using the colony as a lookout to grab passing food while swaying along unnoticed. One is a living water filter, the other a camouflaged hitchhiker… both perfectly adapted to life in the flow. 8/10! #CreatureCritic #SkeletonShrimp #Caprellidae #SeaSquirt #Clavelina #MacroDiving #WeirdWildlife #UnderwaterOddities #ScubaLife #OceanCreatures via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOa84wGEQ54

[creaturecritic]

This Octopus Really Said “Let’s Go” - Blackwater Dive Encounter Juvenile long-arm octo 🐙 all eight fists clenched, ready to throw hands! #octopus #cephalopod #oceanlife #underwaterworld #scubadiving #marinelife #wildlifevideo #underwatermacro #creaturecritic #oceancreatures #weirdocean #underwaterphotography #wildlifeonearth #natureiswild #macro #animalbehavior #funnyanimals #oceanmagic #alienworld #marinebiology via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djLTJ2ZNfNk

[creaturecritic]

This Octopus Really Said “Let’s Go” - Blackwater Dive Encounter Juvenile long-arm octo 🐙 all eight fists clenched, ready to throw hands! #octopus #cephalopod #oceanlife #underwaterworld #scubadiving #marinelife #wildlifevideo #underwatermacro #creaturecritic #oceancreatures #weirdocean #underwaterphotography #wildlifeonearth #natureiswild #macro #animalbehavior #funnyanimals #oceanmagic #alienworld #marinebiology via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XjKexahJW0

[creaturecritic]

Chamberlain’s Nembrotha vs Verde Island’s Ripping Current Riding the current like a champ, this Nembrotha chamberlaini gets absolutely blasted by the flow in Verde Island 🌊💥 It feeds on sea squirts and stores their toxins, making it distasteful to predators ⚠️ Respect! 6/10 #CreatureCritic #Nembrotha #NembrothaChamberlaini #Nudibranch #SeaSlug #WeirdWildlife #UnderwaterOddities #MacroDiving #ScubaLife #VerdeIsland via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FGZ-ko2YC8

[creaturecritic]

Skeleton shrimp - parenting level: extreme Hundreds of babies, all holding on. A skeleton shrimp carrying the next generation. Tiny and relentless little beasties! Follow me for mind-blowing creatures: original footage, never staged, never ai ✅ #skeletonshrimp #marinebiology #oceanlife #underwaterworld #scubadiving #macro #underwatermacro #wildlifevideo #naturelovers #marinelife #creaturecritic #oceancreatures #weirdocean #tinycreatures #wildlifeonearth #underwaterphotography #rareocean #deepsea #alienworld #natureiswild via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-Q1JppSBb8

[creaturecritic]

Skeleton shrimp - parenting level: extreme Hundreds of babies, all holding on. A skeleton shrimp carrying the next generation. Tiny and relentless little beasties! Follow me for mind-blowing creatures: original footage, never staged, never ai ✅ #skeletonshrimp #marinebiology #oceanlife #underwaterworld #scubadiving #macro #underwatermacro #wildlifevideo #naturelovers #marinelife #creaturecritic #oceancreatures #weirdocean #tinycreatures #wildlifeonearth #underwaterphotography #rareocean #deepsea #alienworld #natureiswild via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gROQ1-1yAkw

[creaturecritic]

Juvenile wunderpus in blackwater scuba dive 🐙✨ Blackwater dives feel like visiting another world, where even the smallest creatures seem almost unreal. Filmed in the wild by naturalists Shandon Mitchell & Larissa Russell. Never staged. Never AI. #blackwaterdive #wunderpus #cephalopod #octopus #marinebiology #oceanlife #underwaterworld #scubadiving #underwaterphotography #wildlifevideo #naturelovers #deepsea #oceancreatures #marinelife #wildlifeonearth #creaturecritic #rareocean #oceanmagic #underwater_macro #alienworld via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr2ZqxExjNg

[creaturecritic]

Juvenile wunderpus in blackwater scuba dive 🐙✨ Blackwater dives feel like visiting another world, where even the smallest creatures seem almost unreal. Filmed in the wild by naturalists Shandon Mitchell & Larissa Russell. Never staged. Never AI. #blackwaterdive #wunderpus #cephalopod #octopus #marinebiology #oceanlife #underwaterworld #scubadiving #underwaterphotography #wildlifevideo #naturelovers #deepsea #oceancreatures #marinelife #wildlifeonearth #creaturecritic #rareocean #oceanmagic #underwater_macro #alienworld via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1BrPH8Fqwg

[creaturecritic]

Juvenile wunderpus in blackwater scuba dive 🐙✨ Blackwater dives feel like visiting another world, where even the smallest creatures seem almost unreal. Filmed in the wild by naturalists Shandon Mitchell & Larissa Russell. Never staged. Never AI. #blackwaterdive #wunderpus #cephalopod #octopus #marinebiology #oceanlife #underwaterworld #scubadiving #underwaterphotography #wildlifevideo #naturelovers #deepsea #oceancreatures #marinelife #wildlifeonearth #creaturecritic #rareocean #oceanmagic #underwater_macro #alienworld via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am5QLA-saAM

[creaturecritic]

Skeleton Shrimp Mating Dance I squinted my eyes trying to focus on these microscopic skeleton shrimp… only to realize I’d accidentally become a peeping Tom of the plankton world 🙈🦐 What you’re seeing here is mate guarding. The male clings to the female and waits for the exact moment she molts. Fertilization can only happen when her armor is soft, so this determined gentleman may hold on for hours… sometimes even days. Devotion? Desperation? The line is thin 😅 Points awarded for patience and acrobatics! 7/10 #skeletonshrimp #caprellidae #blackwaterdiving #macroocean #marinelife #underwatermacro #oceancreatures #planktonlife #weirdoftheweek #creaturecritic #underwaterphotography #scubadiving #oceanoddities #tinybutmighty via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frBQ8_XrXho

[creaturecritic]

Mystery blackwater fish Not sure what this is - any blackwater experts out there? #BlackwaterDive #BlanketOctopus #JuvenileOctopus #UnderwaterEncounters #OceanCreatures #ScubaLife #MarineLife #CreatureCritic #ReefLife #UnderwaterAdventure 🐙🌊 via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHFwqv-hEUI

[creaturecritic]

Juvenile Blanked Octopus | Bites Diver Story time! On this blackwater dive, this juvenile male blanket octopus approached me in the blackwater. It was the first time I'd ever seen this species, and I had no idea what it was! It hovered in front of me for a minute or so, then suddenly darted into my palm, where I was holding my DJI and a dive light! It wedged itself in my hand, bit me, and then darted away straight into the depths. It felt like a bee sting, and I was definitely worried! For all I knew, it was a deadly juvenile blue ring octopus, which frequent these waters! After that, I stuck close to my dive buddy. I signaled that I'd been stung by an Octopus, but I thought I was ok. My plan was to wait for any sign of feeling strange, I would then signal my dive buddy to go up. Luckily the stinging faded and there was no other symptoms. Would you have done anything differently in my place? It was a weird situation for sure! #BlackwaterDive #BlanketOctopus #JuvenileOctopus #UnderwaterEncounters #OceanCreatures #ScubaLife #MarineLife #CreatureCritic #ReefLife #UnderwaterAdventure 🐙🌊 via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zC2SwN7RFE