A fish of the abysses belonging to a very rare species called Black hell (Melanocetus Johnsonii) of the size of 6 centimeters was filmed while swimming on the surface a few kilometers from the coast of Tenerife by the photographer David Jara Boguñá. The images went around the net, for the delight of ichthyologists and enthusiasts of bizarre creatures. This fish of the abysses, a distant relative of the fishing frogs, He is the protagonist of a unique encounter, given the behavioral characteristics of this species, which usually lives in depth (between 200 and 2000 meters) and which rarely ventures in the open sea to hunt. Among the hypotheses of this strange behavior, it is thought that the melanchoo was fleeing from a predator Or that it was dragged by a column of hot water, given the volcanic nature of the area, even if the latter hypothesis seems unlikely. The fish, which does not represent a danger to human beings, unfortunately died shortly after the sighting that took place on January 26: accustomed to the darkness and the pressure of the sea depths, the surface waters are for him a alien environmentbut it turned out to be a more unique opportunity than rare to study this mysterious species.
What is the black devil, where abysmal fish lives and how big it is
The black devil belongs to the family of Melanocetidae and to the order of Lophiiiforms, which makes it a distant relative of the fishing frogs, with which it shares different characteristics: grotesque aspect despite being completely harmless to the human being, bait bioluminescent That dangles from the top of the head, and very different dimensions between male and female. Fishing frogs are an extreme example of sexual dwelling: the females of some species grow until they also reach the 10 foot While the males, who do not exceed a few centimeters in some cases they attach themselves to the female body throughout their lives, becoming in all respects an appendix of the female with the sole purpose of fertilizing it.
The specimen observed is great about 6 cm, average size for a female of this species. And it was definitely out of place: all fishing frogs are abysmal animals, which have evolved to live among the 200 and 2000 meters deepat a very high pressure and in the almost total darkness. The surface waters, for the black devil, had to be in all respects to be the equivalent of an alien planet. Also the fishing frogs are stationary predatorswho hunt fish and invertebrates, remaining pending that they approach them from the light of their bait; Seeing a fishing frog swimming in the open sea therefore is a very unusual behavior. In short, a mystery that has left many researchers perplexed.
Because the little black devil went back to the surface in Tenerife
Some hypotheses on why the black devil was swimming on the surface offered them Bruce RobisonMonterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California scientist. Interviewed by National Geographic, the expert proposed some explanation to the bizarre behavior: the specimen was probably escaping from some predatorand then remained disoriented as it approached the surface. Or, it was really swallowed in full in depth by one of the many large predators who frequent the waters of Tenerife, such as a seal, a sea lion or a globicephalon (a cetacean similar to a dolphin, very friendly towards human beings and among the major attractions of naturalistic tourism) and then freed himself or was inadvertently spit more up.
Another possibility is that the devil fish, in turn a predator, has swallowed some fish with natatorial bladder while this was expanding. The organ, which almost all fish use to regulate their floating level, would be swollen Like a balloon inside the black devil, making it float it gradually upwards. In fact, all fishing frogs tend to swallow their prey in fullexpanding their jaws and their stomachs until they swallow large fish even twice them.
The Largo delle Canarie, an area where the sighting took place, is also known for thevolcanic activity Sottomarine: a warmer column of water, caused by the opening of a hydrothermal fireplace, may have dragged the animal to the surface layers due to the temperature difference. In any case, the ascent would have been rather slow: the specimen did not seem to present evident signs of the so -called on his body barotrauma, which instead takes place in cases of Suda pressure changes: In these cases, the natatorial bladder widens so much that it appears out of the mouth of the fish and makes her eyes come out of the orbits. The surface waters are however a hostile environment For the black devil, who died shortly after sighting.
Because the recent sighting of the fish of the abysses is so important
Whatever the reason for his behavior, observe this live very rare animaleven for a few hours, it is a unique opportunity for research. The images captured and the remains of the specimen, now preserved at the Museum of Archeology and Natural History of Tenerife, will be of great use to better understand this elusive species. The black devil was described for the first time in 1863following finds of individuals who died in the train fishing networks.
But so far the sightings of Live specimens They counted on the fingers of one hand: the only other images of the black devil were taken in 2014, in its natural habitat 600 meters deep, from a scientific submarine. That’s why the recent sighting is such an exceptional event: for fish it was a journey, albeit the last of his life, towards places that few of his fellows have ever seen.
