[Animals] Fish that fish with a luminous lure and other curiosities of animals of the depths

[#Wittels-]

Squids that survive with virtually no oxygen, fish that use bioluminescence to capture prey... These are some examples of the incredible creatures that thrive on the ocean floor. Here are some examples.

What is the darkest place in the world? Some readers will answer that a cave or outer space. But it is probably the depths of the ocean, where the mass of water does not let a particle of light through. However, oddly enough, life makes its way even in the deepest point on Earth: the Challenger Deep, located about 11,000 meters below sea level. Here are some examples of those species habituated to the oceanic abysses.

vampire squid
This small cephalopod with a scientific name (Vampyroteuthis infernatis) lives in deep waters of temperate and tropical oceans, at between 600 and 900 meters, although it is capable of diving even deeper. These are called epipelagic zones (the shallowest within the sea), but these creatures must deal with a worse enemy than the absence of sunlight: scarce oxygen. Vampire squids live in so-called 'oxygen-minimum zones (OMZ)', where saturation is too low for the metabolism of any self-respecting complex organism to function. Even so, it can live its entire life cycle in areas with less than 3% oxygen. One possible explanation, according to scientists, may be the high concentration of hemoglobin, which helps these creatures of the deep to take advantage of every last drop of oxygen they can capture. Another curiosity of these deep-sea cephalopods is their ability to escape from predators. They do this by shooting a stream of light through a requisite, a flash that stuns would-be predators, giving it time to slip into the darkness.

dragon fish
The dragon fish (Stomias boa) is one of the most unique creatures of the deep. Although it is a fish, it looks more like a snake. It does not exceed 30 centimeters in length, but its appearance is terrifying. Its body is very elongated, with a very small head and eye, but very long and fine teeth, which allows it to feed without problem on any type of small crustacean that it may find on its way. It has prominent jaws, and very disproportionate in relation to the rest of the body. This allows them to gobble up much larger creatures, but at a high price: they can never close them completely. As with other deep-sea species, it has a long fish, in this case on its chin, which serves as a luminous lure to attract its prey. It lives between 200 and 1,500 meters deep in seas around the world, although it is more common on the Atlantic coast of North America.

 

"Lasiognathus dinema"
This fish is known in English as 'devil fish', and it is not for less, since Lasiognathus dinema is surely one of the most demonic-looking creatures. It is a lophiiform fish, the order to which anglerfish belong, which was discovered in 2015 in northern Mexican waters. They baptized it as 'dinema', from the Greek prefix di (two) and nema (thread), alluding to two elongated threadlike extensions that have - Survives at depths between 1,000 and 1,500 meters. It is between 2 and 10 centimeters long, but, like many other fishing fish, they have a beginning in the head from which they release a bioluminescent photophore that they use as a hook, as if it were a fishing rod. They generate bioluminescence by mixing oxygen and luciferase, a protein that glows in the dark.

 

black devil
Without leaving the hell of the fish, we ran into another 'demonic' teacher. This is Melanocetus johnsonii, a deep-sea fish that thrives between 2,000 and 4,000 meters deep and is known by the nickname of 'black devil'. It is not for less, because it is completely dark. Don't be fooled by its flaccid appearance, as its skin is especially hydrodynamic, which allows it to swim at high speed and 'sneak away' in the blink of an eye. However, if these strange creatures are famous for something, it is precisely for the opposite: they have the ability to remain completely still in the water, although without sinking, playing dead and going unnoticed by potential predators. Although perhaps its most outstanding feature is the difference in size -and function- between males and females. As with other deep-sea species, the males are literally parasites of the females. They join these and merge with your body. The male literally feeds on the female in exchange for carrying out a single function: producing sperm.

 

viper fish
Viperfish (Chauliodus spp.), inhabitants of which can reach depths of up to 4,000 meters. They are ferocious predators with enormous fangs, which can never close together, so that when they close their mouths, they protrude from the front. In addition, they have a flexible neck that allows them to bend their heads backwards, which gives them an even more terrifying air. The teeth reach the level of the eyes, which allows them not to let any prey escape, even if it is sometimes at too great a price: if they misjudge the bite, they can sink their own teeth, which can be lethal.

 

Link: https://www.nationalgeographic.com.es/mundo-animal/peces-que-pescan-senuelo-luz-otras-curiosidades-fauna-profundidades_19762