Check out this amazing footage of a bizarre fish with a transparent head

Virgin Radio

15 Dec 2021, 10:13

Scientists have filmed the incredible barreleye fish, which looks out through its translucent forehead.

The amazing, rare footage was recorded last week, thousands of feet beneath the Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of California.

Sightings of the barreleye fish, which to give it its scientific name, is actually called Macropinna microstoma, are few and far between, which makes this new footage even more remarkable.

Indeed, researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) have seen the fish just nine times after over 5,600 dives and 27,600 hours of video.

They use a remotely-operated vehicle to explore one of the Pacific coast’s deepest submerged valleys. Earlier this month, at approximately 650 meters in the Monterey Submarine Canyon, the vehicle spotted a barreleye fish.

Sharing the footage on Twitter, the MBARI wrote: “I spy with my barreleye, a new #FreshFromTheDeep! During a dive with our education and outreach partner, the @MontereyAq, the team came across a rare treat: a barreleye fish (Macropinna microstoma).”

Speaking to Live Science, Thomas Knowles, a senior aquarist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, said: “The barreleye first appeared very small out in the blue distance, but I immediately knew what I was looking at. It couldn’t be mistaken for anything else.”

The barreleye hadn’t been seen by MBARI scientists in its natural habitat until this century, so the translucency of its head was not known about until then.

Barreleyes are, justifiably, named because of their barrel-shaped, tubular eyes. Their eyes are generally directed upwards, in order to spot the silhouettes of prey such as zooplankton and jellyfish. They can also direct their eyes forward as well.

Unsurprisingly for a fish that has only been seen by scientists nine times, not much else is known about barreleyes. Bruce Robison, another MBARI senior scientist, told Live Science: “Most aspects of their natural history remain unknown and much of what we think we know about them is based on speculation.”

One thing we can confirm about barreleyes is that they look really cool!