Their enormous, toothy mouth and expandable stomach enable them to capture and devour prey larger than themselves in a single instantaneous gulp.ĭeep-sea anglerfish males are a fraction of the size of the females-in the most extreme cases, females may be more than 60 times the length and about a half-a-million times as heavy as the males. Despite substantial growth in recent years of deep-water exploration, the foundation’s spectacular video observations mark only the third time anglerfish behavior has ever been recorded in deep water, Pietsch says.įemales may be more than 60 times the length and about a half-a-million times as heavy as the males.ĭeep-sea anglerfishes lure their prey in the inky-black ocean darkness at depths between 300 and 5,000 meters (980 and 16,400 feet) using a bioluminescent fishing apparatus placed on the tip of the snout - hence the “angler” in their common name. Males of the same species have never before been observed. (Credit: Rebikoff-Niggeler Foundation) How fanfin seadevils mateĭeep-sea anglerfishes, including the fanfin seadevil, scientifically known as Caulophryne jordani, are found in all oceans around the world, yet the roughly 160 known species are extremely rare.įor example, only 14 females of the anglerfish in this video exist in jars of alcohol in natural history collections around the world. This has never been seen before in any fish. “It’s so wonderful to have a clear window on something only imagined before this.” In this view, the female’s bioluminescent fishing apparatus is visible on the far right, and additional pinpoints of light shine from various points along each fin-ray. “This is a unique and never-before-seen thing,” Pietsch says. It’s a mesmerizing scene for the average viewer, but for Ted Pietsch, professor emeritus of aquatic and fishery sciences at the University of Washington and curator emeritus of fishes at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, the video footage is downright amazing. In this screengrab, a small, parasitic male of the same species is visible on the underside of the large female, attached to her belly. Hard to see at first glance was a tiny male, hanging from her belly. She swept her long whisker-like fin-rays back and forth, with pinpoints of light emanating at intervals along the length of each ray-the soft, spine-like structure that supports the fins. Researchers, led by Kirsten and Joachim Jakobsen, aboard the LULA1000, a submersible operated by the marine science-focused Rebikoff-Niggeler Foundation captured the duo on film.įor some 25 minutes, the female-a kind of anglerfish known as the fanfin seadevil-was observed to float slowly and gracefully, rolling in the current, head down and head up, through the pitch-black water at a depth of about 800 meters (2,600 feet). Humans have never seen the pair alive-until now. A fearsome-looking fish and her parasitically attached mate drift almost helplessly, salvaging precious energy in their dark, food-scarce environment deep off the south slope of São Jorge Island in the Azores, west of Portugal in the North Atlantic Ocean.
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