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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Last modified on Wed 12 May 2021 01.01 EDT
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