12 May 2021

"They're glorious, wonderful things. . ." A Rare Find of An Intact Anglerfish Specimen

It was a rare find on the beach in California - a creature from the deep

". . . Even though they are rarely encountered, anglerfish are among the most known deep sea creatures. Their spiny teeth, though menacing, serve more to trap than to chomp their prey. With deep underbites prepared to receive any unfortunate creature lured close by their flashy phosphorescent bulbs – which glow underwater with the help of light-emitting bacteria – they sweep up other fish, squid, and crustaceans, that dwell at depths of 2,000-3,300ft, according to the California Academy of Sciences.

Or at least the females do. The males have evolved into “sexual parasites” and are much smaller in size. After fusing themselves to females, they lose all their internal organs – including their eyes – and are left with nothing but testes. Forever forged, the male provides sperm in exchange for nutrition.

The first one was found in 1833, according to a feature on the fascinating fish published in 2019 in the New York Times, after one washed up in Greenland. Since then, most of the knowledge gathered on them was from the few dead specimens that somehow wound up on shore. But in recent years, scientists and deep-sea explorers have been able to observe them on their own turf.

In a 2016 underwater expedition, researchers observed a pair procreating for the first time. Caught on tape off the coast of the Azores islands, the female was illuminated by her own bioluminescent whiskers, while her tiny partner climbed on board.

“It was amazing,” Theodore W Pietsch, an emeritus professor at the University of Washington in Seattle told the New York Times. “They’re glorious, wonderful things that need our attention, and our protection.”

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