A team of researchers from the Canary Islands has captured rare images of a fishing fisherman on the SEADEVIL DRIL, a species on the high seas, swimming near the surface of the ocean – a view that has only been recorded ‘Only once before.
The Black Sadvil (Melanocetus Johnsonii), known for its bioluminescent lure and its frightening appearance, generally lives in the depths of the ocean, between 650 and 6,500 feet.
The fish was filmed by the photographer of the fauna David Jara on board the Glaucus ship, during a rare meeting which lasted about an hour.
“It was like a dream come true,” said Jara, a marine fauna photographer from the NGO Condrik Tenerife. “I had seen these creatures in books when I was a child, and I never thought of capturing one on the film.”
Line fishing fish, which measures about six inches long, has been filmed by actively swimming, although it is a species generally adapted to extreme pressures and known to be ambush predators that remain relatively stationary in deep water.
This unexpected behavior surprised experts, who were excited by the scarcity of observation.
“When I saw the video for the first time, I honestly did not believe in what I saw,” said Kory Evans, a fish biologist at Rice University. “I thought it was”
Bruce Robison, a main scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, added that these observations are extremely rare. It was he who captured the only previous images of a black SEDEVIL living in Monterey bay in 2014, at a depth of 1,900 feet.
The exact reason why the Black SEDEVIL adventured on the surface is not clear, but scientists think that this may be due to changes in water temperature, pressure or a movement focused on prey.
Despite their intimidating looks, Evans notes that the black seadevils are “for the most part soft and Squishhy”, highlighting their surprising contrast with their frightening image.
This observation is an important moment for marine biology, offering an additional overview of one of the most mysterious creatures in the ocean.
