Deep Sea Fish

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Deep Sea Fish
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The Deep Sea

• It is the largest environment on Earth
• Ranges from about 650-35,450 ft., starting from
  the edge of the continental shelf
• Has the strangest, and most interesting fish
  inhabiting its area
• 2 types of deep sea fish
• Pelagic- live in the mid-ocean (650-3,300)
• Benthic- live on, or near the deepest ocean
  floors (below 3,300)
• There are three zones of the deep sea
• Mesopelagic- (a.k.a. twilight zone) the remaining
  blue-green light is gradually absorbed, into
  darkness
• Bathypelagic- complete darkness, but not the
  deepest zone
• Abyssopelagic- the absolute deepest, darkest
  parts of the ocean

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Common Characteristics

• Many of the fish that dwell in the depths of the
  sea, have adapted common characteristics, that
  have allowed them to survive in the harsh abyssal
  conditions
• large lateral line systems, which allow for
  vibration detection
• large sensitive eyes
• huge mouths
• specialized light organs
• fang-like teeth

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Benthic Fish

• The most common type of benthic fish is the
  rat-tails, which are related to cod fish
• They have big, heavy heads, and long skinny tails
• Their heads have canals w/ contain long distance
  lateral line organs
• They use swim bladders, to make noises, to
  communicate within their schools of fish, to stay
  together
• They have a barbel projecting from their chins,
  which is used for sensing food on the muddy
  bottoms
• They have huge, sensitive eyes, with a large
  abundance of rods, which are the light detecting
  organs in the eye
• These are not for detecting sunlight, because
  there is none, but is for detecting the
  bioluminescence of other deep sea animals
• Adult rat-tails range in size from eight inches,
  to three feet

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Rattail Fish
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Giant Rattail
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Benthic Fish

• The next most common type of benthic fish is the
  brotulid
• They are similar in appearance to the rat-tails,
  except for the size, and sensitivity of the eyes
• They are more closely related to the blenny fish,
  then cod, because they are live-bearers, and most
  rat-tails lay eggs, like cod
• Their lateral line organs are also less sensitive
  then the rat-tails

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Brotulid
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Benthic Fish

• Some other types of benthic fish include
• ray fins- have elongated feelers, which extend
  from their fins, but move independently, they are
  used to find food, as well as move around on the
  ocean floor, these compensate for their bad eyes
• chimaeras- (a.k.a. ghost sharks) combination of
  sharks and rays, they have claspers, and have
  cartalaginous skeletons, they are very ancient
  fish, and are very timid, despite their grotesque
  appearance
• flatfish- these include sole, flounder, and
  halibut they dwell on the ocean floors, and can
  easily blend in, using chromatophores, and by
  borrowing into the sand

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Pelagic Fish

• Pelagic fish have very strange adaptations, even
  stranger then the benthic fish
• One of the most successfully adapted types of
  deep sea fish is the angler fish
• They have long flexible appendages with light
  organs on them, which extend from the tops of
  their heads
• They use these to lure prey within their reach,
  and then they devour them
• The light in these appendages is created by
  luminous bacteria, that the angler fish can
  stimulate by increasing the oxygen flow to the
  area
• The angler fish are odd-looking, lumpy creature,
  and they have vicious fang-like teeth
• Most anglers are either black or brown, and are
  usually smaller then six inches long

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Angler Fish
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Angler Fish
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Angler Fish
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Pelagic Fish

• The most normal looking of all of the deep sea
  fish are the lantern fish
• They are grey or brown, and are shaped like the
  common bony-fish
• The differences between them and normal-looking
  bony fish are their big eyes, and the rows of
  luminescence, which line the sides of their
  bodies
• Like most deep sea fish, they are very small,
  only around six inches long
• Their name is given to them, because they have
  the most spectacular bioluminescent abilities of
  the deep sea fish

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Lantern Fish
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Pelagic Fish

• The viper fish, and dragon fish are types of
  stomiatoids
• These are slashing predators, with vicious fangs,
  and huge mouths, they resemble baracudas, but
  they are much more ferocious
• They also have barbels extending from their
  chins, which often look like long winding roots,
  with many extensions off of them
• These are used to lure prey, as in the angler
  fish
• Stomiatoids also have bioluminescence organs that
  extend along their long bodies
• Unlike the angler fish though, the stomiatoids
  control these organs directly, not through
  bacteria

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Viper Fish
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Viper Fishs' Light Organs
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Dragon Fish
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Pelagic Fish

• There are several other types of pelagic fish
• Hatchet fish are tiny fish (one or two inches),
  that are shaped like hatchets, they have
  telescopic eyes, and their tails are transparent
• Giant-tails are long, skinny, metallic colored,
  and tubular-eyed fish
• Gulpers, a.k.a. pelican eels, are very strange
• They have huge mouths, long skinny bodies, and
  expandable stomachs
• They use their long tails to hold their prey, and
  then they swallow them whole, no matter how large
  they are, often larger then themselves

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Hatchet Fish
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Deep Sea Fish

• The vast differences in deep sea fish is very
  obvious
• The benefits of the seemingly strange
  characteristics are obvious, they developed
  things to allow them to survive without light

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The
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