Researchers Solve Mystery of Deep-Sea Fish with Transparent Head

July 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Described first in 1939, scientists have thought the “barreleye” fish Macropinna microstoma had “tunnel vision” due to eyes that were fixed in place. However, new research shows that the fish actually has a transparent head and the eyes rotate around inside of it. From the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute:

Bruce) Robison and (Kim) Reisenbichler used video from MBARI’s remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to study barreleyes in the deep waters just offshore of Central California. At depths of 600 to 800 meters (2,000 to 2,600 feet) below the surface, the ROV cameras typically showed these fish hanging motionless in the water, their eyes glowing a vivid green in the ROV’s bright lights. The ROV video also revealed a previously undescribed feature of these fish–its eyes are surrounded by a transparent, fluid-filled shield that covers the top of the fish’s head.

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Fish Uses Tool for Eating

July 18, 2011 By 1 Comment

 

Blackspot Tuskfish

Australia's Great Barrier Reef - 2006

A recent study in the journal, Coral Reefs, says the picture (above) snapped at a depth of nearly 60 feet (18 meters), is the first ever taken of a tool-using fish in the wild.

A series of shots including the one above are thought to be the first photographic evidence from the wild of a fish using a tool. The series of photographs show a blasckspot tuskfish about to smash a cockle against a rock to expose its flesh for eating.

Professional diver Scott Gardner was just about out of air and swimming back to the surface when he heard an odd cracking sound nearby. Swimming over to investigate, he spotted the foot-long (30-centimeter-long) fish at work.

Scienctists have recently published a study on the images and related data, titled “Tool use in the tuskfish Choerodon schoenleinii?.” “Wild Fish Uses Tool“