WATCH: Sightings are rare – but looking at the “Black Sea Devil” angler fish is enough to give anyone the creeps. It’s been captured on video only a few times. KPIX’s Don Ford takes a look at a new HD video of one such fish found off the California coast.
TORONTO – It’s a face only a mother could love.
This fish has never been filmed so deep in the ocean — until now. Researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) have been able to record the mug of the elusive deep-sea angler fish known as the Black Seadevil or Melanocetus.
Angler fish have rarely been filmed in their natural habitat. According to MBARI, fewer than half a dozen have ever been captured on film or video.
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The reason may lay in the fact that this Black Seadevil is tiny (just 9 cm long), and lives in the dark waters of Monterey Canyon.
Angler fish have a fishing-pole-like structure that they dangle in front of their mouths, luring in unsuspecting fish for consumption — hence their name.
This little fish was observed at a depth of 600 metres using a remote research vehicle. The institute believes that this is the first video footage of this species alive and at that depth.
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