Prize-winning photos capture magical world of underwater creatures

Shimmering against a background of deepest black, an image of a rarely seen larval cusk-eel captured by photographer Jeff Milisen earned the top prize in the Underwater Photography Guide's 2015 Ocean Art Contest.

The annual contest showcases images shot in marine and freshwater environments, and attracts thousands of submissions from underwater photography professionals and enthusiasts around the world.

The winning photo's cusk-eel subject, though resembling and sharing a name with the eel family, is actually a bony fish. During the larval stage seen in the photo, it sports a gracefully trailing blue-hued appendage that holds its gut. The digestive system, illuminated by the camera's light, appears as a network of tubelike structures under the fish's head and extending the length of its external digestive sack.