Scientists are gathering in Hobart this week to examine some of the over 42,000 deep-sea fishes and invertebrates (including the cousin of Mr Blobby - voted World's Ugliest Fish in 2013) collected from Australia’s eastern abyss.

The collection was gathered last year during the Sampling the Abyss voyage on the research vessel Investigator and come from the deep ocean at depths of up to 4800 metres.

Over 100 different fish species were collected, some of which are possibly new to science, and will go under the microscope at the CSIRO Australian National Fish Collection (ANFC).

Some of the weird and wonderful discoveries from the voyage included blob fishes, cousins of Mr Blobby who was voted the World’s Ugliest Fish in 2013, bioluminescent cookie-cutter sharks with razor sharp serrated teeth, a haul of frightening lizard fish, and graceful tripod fish, which prop on high off sea floor on long fins waiting for food to drift within reach.

Manager of the Australian National Fish Collection, Alastair Graham, said Australia has a vast marine estate to manage and some areas, such as the abyssal depths, are largely unexplored.

“The abyss is the largest and deepest habitat on the planet, covering half the world’s oceans and one third of Australia’s territory, but it remains the most unexplored environment on Earth,” Mr Graham said.

“The survey collected some very rare and unusual species, and represents one of the deepest collections of fishes from Australian waters.”

The voyage led to a number of important findings, including the rediscovery of the “faceless” fish, a bizarre deep-sea fish with no-visible eyes and a mouth on the underside of its head. Images of this fish went viral across the world.

Is there a more terrifying place on earth than the bottom of the world’s oceans?