Lizard fish: that's who dominates the ocean abyss (7 photos)

The deep sea depths are full of terrible creatures. It seems as if Mother Nature specially hid these fear people away from the light so that no one would guess about her shoals. And if every first inhabitant of the abyss came out like this, can you imagine who heads this nightmarish chain? No? We hasten to fix it! Deep-sea lizard fish, please love and favor!





When I found my old teenage photos.

The lizard fish truly deserves to be called the queen of darkness. A huge mouth with rows of sharp teeth-needles, eyes filled with the black emptiness of the depths, a powerful body with a long muscular tail. It seems as if the monster has been preserved from the prehistoric past. However, under the guise of an ancient monster hides a more than modern fish.



Pay attention to her front fins. They look like paws and allow you to walk comfortably along the bottom. Hence the name lizard fish.

Lizard fish are ideally suited to the harsh realities of the deep sea. They can withstand literally anything: hunger, extreme depths of up to 3500 meters, low water temperatures of under 3⁰C and a complete lack of sunlight. And it’s not easy to survive - in harsh conditions on the ocean floor, fish lizards were able to occupy the top of the food chain! The waters of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans fall under their terror.





There are probably a lot of species of lizard fish, but there are too few observations now to make any conclusions.

Hunting for lizard fish is tedious, but win-win. The predator does not carry out adrenaline chases in pitch darkness, and does not lure prey with glare and lights. There is no point in fussing and actively looking for prey - on the seabed, the density of edible creatures per square kilometers of water is extremely low. By the time you find it, you won’t have the strength to catch it.



How the vast majority feel at the beginning and end of the work week.

Instead, the lizard fish turned into a living trap. Hiding at the bottom, she waits for someone to swim within throwing distance. Fish, crayfish, shellfish, representatives of their own species - it doesn’t matter. The main thing is to be fatter.



Slavik, why are you sitting in your room all the time? Come out and say hello to the guests!

As soon as the lizard fish smells living flesh, the unfortunate person will face a death sentence. The predator instantly overtakes the prey, closing its powerful jaws! The more the prey flutters, the deeper the teeth sink: they are directed towards the fish’s throat - there is no turning back! Even if the lunch is commensurate with the fish itself, it doesn’t matter. Fish lizards accumulate excess nutrients in the liver. The next meal may take weeks, or even months.



There is no targeted hunting for lizard fish. They end up in nets along with other deep-sea fish. All found individuals were transferred to research centers.

The strategy: “wait and give 100%” also works with the production of your own kind. As soon as the time of mating comes (in each part of the range in its own way), fish lizards actively grow reproductive cells. So active that every fish becomes both a dad and a mom at once! This is called synchronous hermaphroditism - when both eggs and sperm mature in one creature at the same time. This approach to reproduction greatly simplifies the search for a partner. Anyone is suitable for love, the main thing is the same type!



Can you choose just one gender? How boring!

According to a few estimates, one fish lizard can have up to 32,000 eggs. Very little is known about the further fate of the future rulers of the depths. Most likely, after some time the clutch floats to the surface, where the larvae develop. Only when they grow up do lizard fish go into the shadows to scare us, you and all the inhabitants of the deep sea.