Fauna Fabula: Unreal Animals in the Real World

Viperfish (Chauliodus sloani) - Requested by Anonymous

The viperfish is one of the most unusual-looking fish in the deep sea. It is also one of the most popular and well-known species. It is one of the fiercest predators of the deep. This fearsome looking creature has a long dorsal spine that is tipped with a photophore, a light-producing organ. The viperfish uses this light organ to attract its prey through a process known as bioluminescence. By flashing the light on and off, it can be used like a fishing lure to attract smaller fish.

In spite of its ferocious appearance, the viperfish is a relatively small animal, growing to about 11 or 12 inches (30 centimeters) in length. They have a hinged skull, which can be rotated up for swallowing unusually large prey. They also have very large stomachs that allow them to stock up on food whenever it is plentiful. Viperfish are known to be preyed upon by sharks and some species of dolphin.

Saddled Bichir or Tiger Bichir (Polypterus Endlicheri Endlicheri)

An incredibly hardy, nocturnal species with very poor vision, Polypterus endlicheri endlicheri relies on its excellent sense of smell to locate food. This species, along with others of its genus, are some of the last surviving relatives of very ancient species. Fossils of earlier relatives have been found that date back to the Triassic Period, which occured during the early development of the dinosaurs more than 200 million years ago.

Young bichirs have amphibian-like external gills which are lost as the fish matures. This, coupled with their nocturnal mode of hunting, in which they emerge from their daytime refuges to hunt invertebrates and small fish in shallow water clearly exhibit the link these species form between fish and amphibians.

They are available in some pet stores.

Blobfish (Psychrolutes marcidus)

The Blob fish are found at a depth of around 800 meters which would make life impossible for most fish as at that depth the pressure is roughly eighty times more than at sea level. The reason that the Blob fish can survive at such a depth is also what gives it such a unique look (some would say ugly), foregoing a gas bladder (found in most fish to keep them buoyant) the Blob fish is almost entirely comprised of gelatinous substance, this keeps the Blob fish from sinking as the density of the goo is less than that of then sea where they are found.

When under water the Blob fish has an comical, almost human looking face however if taken out of water the Blob fish will die after a short while and is gelatinous body will dry out and shrivel no longer resembling the typical way people think of Blob fish.

Deep Sea Anglerfish (Linophryne sp.) larva

Red/Purple/Pink-Eye Hovering Goby (Bryaninops natans)

Bryaninops (commonly known as sea whip gobies) is a tropical Indo-Pacific genus of gobies. The genus takes its common name from the fact that it is commensal on gorgonians (commonly known as sea whips) and black coral. The genus is further characterised by cryptic colouration.

Hadal Snailfish (Pseudoliparis amblystomopsis)

The new type of snailfish was found living at a depth of 7,000m in the Peru-Chile trench of the South East Pacific Ocean. The deepest dwelling vertebrates on Earth, snailfish have been discovered in ocean trenches in other parts of the Pacific. Living so far underwater, the newfound, 6-inch-long snailfish can withstand pressures equal to 1,600 elephants standing on the roof of a Mini Cooper, according to Oceanlab.

Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker (Eumicrotremus orbis)

A lot of people who see Pacific spiny lumpsuckers for the first time describe them as a ping-pong ball with fins. They are tiny and very inefficient swimmers, found most often in kelp or eelgrass beds attached to a rock or a log no deeper than 500 feet. They are quite common, ranging from the waters off the Washington coast, up around the arc of the Aleutian Islands, to the Asian mainland and the northern islands of Japan, and in the Bering Sea. A giant Pacific spiny lumpsucker is five inches long, but most are closer to an inch. Scuba divers are their biggest fans because the little fellows will eat right out of their hands.

Pacific Blackdragon (Idiacanthus antrostomus)

Female blackdragons are about two feet long and have fanglike teeth and a long chin whisker. The males are small, about three inches in length, and brownish in color. They have no teeth, no chin barbel and no stomach. Unable to eat, the male lives only long enough to mate. They females are normally upto 24 inches while males upto 3 inches.

Flashlight Fish (Photoblepharon palpebratus)

A nocturnal fish of the Indo-Pacific with bioluminescent organs under its eyes that serve to attract prey and help it evade predators. Flashlight fish live in caves and crevices by day and rise to depths of 3-20 meters at night to feed. The bean-shaped photophores under their eyes contain bioluminescent bacteria, which live with the fish in a symbiotic relationship. The photophores glow in the dark, attracting zooplankton and small fish, on which the flashlight fish feed. The fish can reveal and extinguish the photophores by means of a membrane that extends up over the organ. When threatened by a predator, the flashlight fish quickly hides the photophores and flees, effectively disappearing from view of the attacker.