Deep-sea fish
In the pitch-black water of the deepest parts of the sea live some of
the strangest of all fish. Many of them have flashing or glowing lights
on their bodies. Many seem to be nothing but mouths and stomachs.
For example, the deep-sea swallower fish has a large mouth that can open
very wide, and a stomach that can stretch way out. Although these fish
are only about a foot (30 centimeters) long, they can swallow fish that
are as big or bigger than they are! A swallower that has just eaten
often looks as if it has a balloon for a stomach!
Swallower eels, as you might guess from their name, can also swallow
their prey whole. They, too, have a large mouth and a stretchable
stomach that can hold larger creatures. They have a long, snakelike body
with rows of little lights along the sides that flash as the eels swim
through the darkness.
A swallower eel’s body may be only six inches (15 cm) long, but its thin
tail stretches out for another five feet (1.5 meters) or more! At the
threadlike end of this tail there is a glowing, reddish light. This
light may attract prey. And swallower eels may use their long tails to
catch prey, for one swallower was found with its tail wrapped around
another fish.
The creatures called deep-sea angler fish also
Most angler fish have a long, thin rod sticking out over their mouth. At
the end of the rod there is a bump that glows dimly in the darkness.
Fish and other creatures swim up to this light—and are gulped into the
angler fish’s big mouth. Some angler fishes also have what looks like a
glowing tree branch hanging from their chin.
A gulper eel looks just like a pair of jaw\’s with a long, tapering tail
attached to it. However, a gulper eel’s stomach can’t stretch. These
creatures probably move through the dark water with their mouths wide
open, so as to catch tiny fish, shrimps, and worms.
Surely one of the oddest of all deep-sea fish is the creature often
called a tripod fish. Tripod means \”three-legged.” And that’s what
this creature is—a fish with three \”legs.” Projecting from each of
its two front fins, and from the bottom of its tail fin, there is a
long, thin \”leg,” rather like a stilt. The tripod fish often stands on
these three, stiltlike \”legs.”
Some scientists think these fish may use their \”legs” as feelers,
sliding them through the mud in search of worms and other small
creatures. Others think the tripod fish may actually hop along on the
sea bottom!
Tripod fish, swallower fish, gulper eels, and deep-sea angler fish are
only a very few of the strange fish that live in the depths of the sea.
There are hatchet fish, with a body no thicker than a coin; giant tails,
which are fish with eyes on long tubes, like telescopes; viper fish,
with patches of glowing light in their mouth and teeth like needles; and
many others. The fish of the deep sea are like creatures of another
world!
