Black anglerfish: why did it emerge from the abyss to the surface? (8 photos)

The scientific and other worlds are discussing an unusual phenomenon. A couple of days ago, the bottomless blue sea stirred, and from its depths something completely alien to the world emerged into the light. This inhabitant of impenetrable darkness was observed by mankind for the first time just like that, during the day, and even at the very surface of the water! What made it leave the darkness? Is something terrible really coming...





The very same shots. It seems like the fish is doing nothing, but it's still scary!

The media has already dubbed the creature a sea monk. But let me dig into something. The sea monk is the name of the European anglerfish. And the fish that appeared in the footage is called the black anglerfish or Johnson's melanocetus. In English literature, it is called the "humpbacked demon", but we speak Russian, right?



That's how it is: you come out into the world, and everyone immediately starts calling you names!

To be fair, looking at this fish, you believe that its homeland is nothing less than the underworld. The black anglerfish looks like a Smeshariki from a horror movie: an almost round body 15 centimeters long. Black-brown skin, devoid of scales. A huge mouth, from which rows of ugly teeth-stakes peek out. And, of course, the famous fishing rod-bait on the muzzle.





Krosh, Hedgehog, where did you run off to? I just wanted to play...

By the way, all the anglers that you see in the photo are beautiful ladies. When the footage of the anglerfish spread across the Internet, our article had not yet been published. No one knew that this "devil" was a tender, vulnerable girl, and many decided that it was not a living creature at all, but a radio-controlled toy. Because "a live fish cannot be so ugly and awkward!"



Honey, am I really the most beautiful?!

But scientists are adamant: the blue abyss hides thousands of melanocetes, you just need to know where to look. Specifically, our beauties live in impenetrable darkness at a depth of 200 to 1500 meters. They have been encountered in tropical and temperate waters of all four oceans. And once a fish was found near Antarctica!



When at night in the dark you go to the kitchen to drink water.

There is little oxygen and even less food at depth. In the deathly black depths, the lanterns of the melanocetes become beacons of life. Their fishing rod consists of symbiotic bioluminescent bacteria. Small fish and crustaceans flock to the dim light, like moths to a flame. Alas, they see the light at the end of the tunnel of the predator's digestive tract. The mouth of the angler is so wide that it can easily accommodate a fish of the same size as the hunter herself.



They say that cameramen always survive filming. Well, let's check!

The glare of the fishing rod also lights the fire of love! Yes, it's time to talk about the males. They are absolutely unimpressive in melanocetes, like in all other anglerfish: tiny, only 1.5-3 centimeters long. They have neither a fishing rod nor a scary mouth. But they have huge eyes and a well-developed sense of smell. All because their only duty in life is to become a father for a bunch of new monsters. Romeos swim to the light of their Juliet. In order not to lose his beloved in the pitch darkness, the male has no choice but to bite into the female's body until she starts spawning. When it's time to get down to business, he fertilizes the eggs, detaches himself from the female, and swims off in search of a new love.



That sucker at the bottom is the male.

It doesn't sound very romantic, but anglers don't need any extra body movements. The female spends all her free time motionless in the dark abyss - saving precious energy. Scientists even pulled them out of the bottom to conduct experiments. The fish didn't put up much of a fight. Moreover, not only did they survive the lift from the bottom, but they also felt great in water almost completely devoid of oxygen.



Anglerfish are not caught on purpose, they get caught in nets by accident, but no one eats them. So the monsters are not in danger of extinction.

But why did the melanocet decide to surface now, near the Canary Islands? Scientists have two theories. The first is that it was carried away by the current. The weak-willed fish hardly move in the water, so a powerful current of water could have carried the anglerfish to the surface. The second is that the anglerfish got sick. Just as aquarium fish float upside down, so the melanocet had problems with gas exchange, which is why its body rose up like a balloon. The fish itself could not say the reasons for its appearance, because it died a few hours after surfacing. The carcass was caught and sent for study, so the mystery will not remain unanswered.