Researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) have managed to capture footage of a rare fish with a transparent head.
The unusual sighting of the barreleye fish was made by aquarist Tommy Knowles and his team while onboard the research vessel Rachel Carlson, where they were collecting jellies and comb jellies for the California aquarium’s upcoming ‘Into the Deep’ exhibition.
The team are said to have stopped to ‘marvel’ at the sight of the fish, with the research institute noting that despite logging more than 5,600 dives with its remotely operated vehicles, it has only encountered this particular fish nine times.
Check out footage of the barreleye below:
According to the MBARI, which is located in California, the barreleye lives in the ocean’s ‘twilight zone’ at depths of 600 to 800 meters (2,000 to 2,600 feet). Though the majority of its body is opaque, as you might expect, its head is entirely transparent, allowing us to see through to the body parts beneath.
Two spots at the front of the fish’s face may be mistaken for eyes, EarthSky reports, but these are actually its olfactory organs. Its eyes are located just behind these spots and appear as green glowing orbs, which look upwards in order to allow the fish to spot prey.
When it comes time to catching and eating its favourite prey, which is apparently usually small crustaceans trapped in the tentacles of other sea creatures, the barreleye can rotate its eyes beneath the dome of transparent tissue.
The fish can grow up to 15cm in size and live in habitats ranging from the Bering Sea to Baja California to Japan.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University and went on to contribute to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming Senior Journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news, trending stories and longer form features.
New deep-sea sighting: The barreleye fish has a transparent head and tubular eyes
Barreleye fish shows a transparent head