To my knowledge, these are known, if not recently discovered animals. Some are just plain odd.

1. Hammerhead Salamander

2. Huge Eel

3. Jelly fish I think it one of those huge jellyfish found off of Japan, but it looks like a really big phallus to me!

The first one is a known fake.

The second one, looks real to me. Reasonable, too.

The jellyfish also looks a little fake, but hey, it could be real. Just me I suppose.

the hammerhead salamander is probably a hoax...

Diplocaulus Found
Professor Patrick Schembri, writing in the Sunday Times, reports of a new photo that's been making the email rounds showing a very strange looking animal captured in a bucket.

Versions of the email variously claim that the animal was found either at Il-Maghluq in Marsascala, or in Bahrija. Schembri identifies the animal as none other than a Diplocaulus, extinct for 270 million years, which means that the photo almost definitely must be a hoax (either that or it's a major scientific discovery).

He writes of the Diplocaulus: "The very distinctive head may have been an adaptation against predators, since the wide head would make Diplocaulus difficult to swallow, or it may have aided the animal to swim by acting as a hydrofoil. Like most other early amphibians, Diplocaulus lived in or near water. It probably fed on insects or fish. It was also considerably larger than the image doing the rounds suggests, since fossils as large as 80 cm in length have been discovered."

Diplocaulus Found

Thanks, PAx, for naming the hammerhead salamnader.
I'd seen it in a book before, but couldn't recall the name.

The giant eel and jellyfish look plausible to me. But I agree that the Diplocaulus is more than likely Photoshop, or a model that was photographed..

The first one is of a Japanese toy (Kaido?) Diplocalus.
The second one I'd say looks a bit like a catfish.
the third... hee hee hee Nah, I think it's mibby a really big jellyfish.

RKD

the first one is fake, I heared it was a sculpter
the seconed one is not a giant eel its a fresh water Dragon Fish
the last one... can't say?

As Taka said the hammerhead salamander is known to be fake.

The eel is probably real. I was thinking the same thing as Roadkill... kinda looks like a cat fish...

And the jellyfish... well... have you ever deep fried something and the fat floats to the top of the oil and just kinda hangs there like some blob of 5hit? Well, that's what the "jellyfish" looked like to me... some kinda blob of fat or something floating on top of the water...

Those are awesome. I also love your dolphin and killer whale pictures

All look like reasonable pics except for the first looks weird, but would be a cool pet!!!

Crap! Believe it or not, but i've read articles on number 2, and 3. I don't have my facts straight... i'll try to get them... but heres what i sorta know...

#2 - this looks like a giant mudpuppy. Now i know mudpuppies don't get huge... there is another species that look exactly the same... these are much larger, and quite a bit more aggressive, i believe they're from Japan....

#3 - this looks like the picture of the giant jelly fish which have been appearing more and more off the coast of japan. These things are HUGE apparently.

Sorry i couldn't say more then that... i'll do some looking around home tonight through the articles i have saved up and will keep you posted...

Are you talking about Hellbenders ancondatm? I don't think they quite get that big though.

RKD

That second pic is not an eel... That is definately a fish... nevermind frogfish got it...(below)

The third pic... Well, I don't see why not... There are some pretty DAMN big jellyfish out there...

Wow, I am surprised no one pointed this out...The "giant eel" is actually not a eel, but a endangered long fish called a Pirarucu which lives in the amazon. They can grow as long as a stationwagon...In my fishing trip to Venezuela, one of our guides hooked into one.

Pirarucu

My bad, i was thinking of a Japanese Giant Salamander...
http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/amphibia.../more_info.html

But i'm afraid my memory was a little off... i remembered a more stream line like body, such as the one we saw in the photo above. Not what i'm showing here.

My bad, sorry ladies and gents



good call frogfish!

#2 is not an amphibian ancondatm...It is a fish called the pirarucu.

EDIT: Nvm, ancondatum edit posted when I was

This is an article regarding the giant jellyfish. I heard about it on the news, and researched it.

New Scientist.com

Cool. Now I remember them! They were also featured on Planet Earth weren't they? Holy Chicken they look like some sort of miniature Labyrinthodont!

Crazy stuff!

RKD

Wow, the hammerhead salamander is/might be a hoax? That's dissapointing. It looks so cool! I mean, I've seen stranger animals that are, in fact, real. I hate hoaxes. Just really shoots down my hopes. You can't trust anyone anymore.

The eel is definetly not an eel..it is a pirarucu.

excellant pics

I thought it was a fresh water dragon fish?

The Hammerhead Salamander is wierd. (don't really know if it's real).

Huge Eel is a catfish.

Jelly fish in the photo looks toy like, but it's already proven that jellyfish exist.
chance that it's real is 1/3.

No, it's most definitely not a dragon fish, otherwise known as Arowana. As a matter of fact, Arowana are relatively small enough (still big though) to be sold for private aquariums.

On the other hand...

All the pictures I can find of Arapaima(Pirarucu) show it as being silver, not brown. In fact, I can't find any pictures, anywhere, that show a brown Arapaima. The head and body shape between Arapaima pictures and this are similar, though.

Edit: I wonder if Arapaima remains brown until maturity?

I've heard that the huge jellyfish is real:




Man! those are Big!
It would be freaky to see one of those while ur swimming in the deep-dark ocean

Wrong, its a pirarucu.


Silver fish CAN look brown...The Tarpon of the Gulf of Mexico is a brilliant silver, but can also look green and brown.

I think pirarucus can be brown.

First ones fake Ive seen it o a different site, second one is a big fish, third one i dont know looks kinda fake but who knows

Yep, I've seen reddish-brown arapaimas

Ok Class Let's Start Cryptozoology Chapter X....

Class Dismissed :-)

Joking!!!

Ok let's get Serious now.....Hmmmm.......I Saw the Salamander Report it looks Fake....


Jellyfish Looks Dead and i doubt it too that it is True....

Yes Mr. Sassy this is....It Creeps me out......

that fish is an aripaima

Thank you captain obvious..

Giant Jellies do exist...Man 'o Wars have tentacles that can reach lengths of 100 feet.

Dear Frogfish....R u saying me i know it's an aripaima.....as Murderman said.....i never said.....



I WAS HERE

I never directed anything at you

Well frogish i just called it aripaima, and NOT pirarucu, as we call the fish aripaima in the country were i come from (wich is also the fish natural habitat), dont be that rude with the remarks. But anyways, we both mean the same fish. And its one hell of a catch, you'd be better of cutting the line if u do it with an angler.

Not quite so...I am a very seasoned and traversed angler myself...A fish of that size I would want to hold (or at least try to).

I have caught fish bigger than that, and its with utmost pride to haul it in, hold it, then release it.

Yes, I think we've determined that already guy. Anyhoo, it's the bell that's big in that pic, and it looks kinda like the tentacles are more or less vestigial, 'course it could just be the way it's taken.

RKD