© MBARI
 
© MBARI
whipnose anglerfish
© MBARI
Habitat: Deep sea – Pacific Ocean
Status: Data Deficient 

Scientists over at the Monteray Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) were wonderfully surprised to spot a never-before-filmed species of deep sea Whipnose Anglerfish. They published a brief post on the exciting discovery on September 30 which read:

“After 25 years, you might think we had seen all there is to see here in the deep Pacific Ocean, but today was a good reminder that that is definitely not true! During the first hour of our remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dive today, we encountered a very bizarre deep-sea anglerfish from the family Gigantactinidae that we have never filmed before. It had an extremely long lure that was “shaggy” at the tip. Completely amazing!The natural orientation for this fish is what we might consider upside down. The lure is very long and ‘shaggy’ and has a bioluminescent tip.”

Can you believe that? This fish swims upside down with its lure dangling under its chin. What a wacky creature and a spectacular discovery!