MBARI researchers captured an unusual fish from the deep on video

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Scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) have encountered and captured on video the extremely rare deep-sea fish Macropinna microstoma.

The specimen encountered was a rarely seen and bizarre deep-sea fish with a transparent head and large glowing green eyes. The creature was recorded by a remotely operated ROV that was exploring the waters off the coast of California. MBARI researchers They said this was only the ninth time they had observed the species. That’s not much, considering that they have made as many as 5,600 dives and recorded 27,600 hours of footage to date.

The unusual encounter took place at a depth of between 600 and 800m, during the exploration of the so-called ‘Boulder Sea’. twilight zones. The short video shows a remarkable fish with a transparent head and tail and a brown body. Close-ups, on the other hand, make it possible to see two large glowing spheres inside its head. As the MBARI researchers reported, they are the creature’s eyes.

In turn, the two small recesses where we would expect the eyes to be are in fact the organ responsible for smell.

The creature’s eyes point upwards, so that it can see its favourite prey – small crustaceans trapped in the tentacles of tubefish. But how does this fish eat when its eyes are pointed upwards and its mouth is facing forward? Turns out it can rotate its eyes under a dome of transparent tissue – reported researchers from MBARI

What do we know about the unusual fish?

Fish from the species Macropinna microstoma were first recognised and described by the scientific world in 1939. These unusual creatures grow to about 15cm in body length and are found in oceans around the world. Researchers surmise that these fish float underneath tubefishes to steal their food. In turn, tubefishes are unusual marine organisms that can grow up to 1 m long. They drift across the ocean, and their thousands of stinging tentacles help them capture small animals.

Macropinna microstoma It usually hangs motionless in the water with its eyes upwards. When it sees prey trapped in the tentacles of a tubefish, it turns its eyes forward and swims up to devour it.

Photo: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute – MBARI