For all we know about other planets and even other galaxies, there’s still much to learn about our very own planet – especially its oceans. The oceans are teeming with life of which we know nothing or very little about; now, Florida researchers have discovered a new species of angler fish that dwells 1 km below sea level (3200 ft).
Please welcome the new anglerfish, Lasiognathus regan. (Photo courtesy of Theodore Pietsch, University of Washington)
“Every time we go out on a deep-sea research excursion there’s a good chance we’ll see something we’ve never seen before — the life at these depths is really amazing,” said Tracey Sutton, a deep-sea life expert who was involved in the study.
Indeed, it seems like every deep sea expedition comes up with something new.
“As a researcher, the one thing I know is that there’s so much more we can learn about our oceans,” said Tracey Sutton, an oceanographer at NSU . “Every time we go out on a deep-sea research excursion there’s a good chance we’ll see something we’ve never seen before — the life at these depths is really amazing.”
Anglerfish are spectacular, dangerously-looking abyssal fish. Their distinctive characteristic is a fleshy growth from their heads which acts as a lure for their prey. This latest discovery looks a bit like a hunchback, with a large, strange looking mouth and an even stranger zig-zagging fishing pole coming out of its head.
“This fish dangles the appendage until an unsuspecting fish swims up thinking they found a meal, only to quickly learn that they are, in fact, a meal themselves,” the marine researchers from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, said in a statement.
Three female fish were discovered – they were named Lasiognathus regan and will reside at the University of Washington.
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The findings are published in the journal Copeia.
