Life can be quite bizarre deep in the ocean. The barreleye fish, though, may be the most bizarre life form we’ve found among all the otherworldly-looking creatures down there. These truly bizarre creatures, which are found at depths where most light cannot penetrate, have heads that are see-through, allowing their eyes to effectively peer out the sunroof as they move through the deep, dark waters.
Don’t trust us? Just watch the stunning definition video below from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), which features a barreleye fish performing what barreleye fish do BEST (for the fully immersive experience, we recommend popping on the X Files theme tune as you do).
It depicts a barreleye fish (Macropinna microstoma), which was discovered using a remote-operated vehicle (ROV). Since barreleyes live at a depth of 600 to 800 meters (2,000 to 2,600 feet), well beyond the reach of terrestrial humans, such videos require ROVs. A mission connected to the Rachel Carson research vessel had the ROV on the prowl.
“MBARI’s remotely operated vehicles Ventana and Doc Ricketts have logged more than 5,600 successful dives and recorded more than 27,600 hours of video—yet we’ve only encountered this fish nine times!” Reads the video‘s caption.
As for locating the eyes of the barreleye, the vision balls aren’t actually those two indentations you see in the convention eye position, but actually the glowy green balls sitting slightly further back. The circles at the front are actually olfactory organs that can “smell” chemical cues in the water.
The function of the eyes’ strange positioning, MBARI says, is to spy prey above which they’ll sometimes steal from the dangling tentacles of siphonophores. As ultra-sensitive tubular eyes, they are incredibly well adapted for spotting the silhouettes of edible animals against the minuscule amount of light that travels to such depths.
At one point it was thought the barreleye’s eyes were constantly to the sky, but it’s since been established that they can roll to face forwards when eating. The perks of having a see-through head include being able to look through the transparent shield your eyes sit in and effectively see through your own mouth. Handy when you’ve got a mouth as small as the barreleye’s.
What do you think now that you’ve seen one in action and heard the details? Barreleye Fish: An alien, a fish, or a submarine run by that teeny-tiny Men in Black alien with the brains?
deep sea creatures are really bizzare and really cool.