Scientists recently filmed a super-rare, ultra-black anglerfish lurking like a living shadow in the deep sea off the California coastline.
Researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) spotted the unidentified species of dreamer anglerfish (genus Oneirodes) on Sept. 29.
They filmed it 2,562 feet (781 meters) below the surface while maneuvering a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) in Monterey Canyon — a massive deep-sea canyon that spans more than 292 miles (470 kilometers) off the California coast.
The researchers were collecting tiny, spiked organisms known as phaeodarians, which float in the water column and eat falling detritus, or marine snow, when they came across the football-size female fish.
It is the first dreamer anglerfish seen in Monterey Canyon since 2016 and only the ninth time scientists have spotted these creatures in the area over the last 36 years, according to an MBARI statement.
Source
Researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) spotted the unidentified species of dreamer anglerfish (genus Oneirodes) on Sept. 29.
They filmed it 2,562 feet (781 meters) below the surface while maneuvering a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) in Monterey Canyon — a massive deep-sea canyon that spans more than 292 miles (470 kilometers) off the California coast.
The researchers were collecting tiny, spiked organisms known as phaeodarians, which float in the water column and eat falling detritus, or marine snow, when they came across the football-size female fish.
It is the first dreamer anglerfish seen in Monterey Canyon since 2016 and only the ninth time scientists have spotted these creatures in the area over the last 36 years, according to an MBARI statement.
Source