A team of fish biologists recently spotted a see-through fish in Alaskan waters which has been recognised as a rarely-seen blotched snailfish.
"Been hoping to see one of these in person for a long time! Blotched snailfish (Crystallichthys cyclospilus)," tweeted Sarah Friedman, one of the fish biologists from the team at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Been hoping to see one of these in person for a long time! Blotched snailfish (Crystallichthys cyclospilus) pic.twitter.com/RHxvxAeTog— Sarah Friedman, PhD (@sarahtfried) June 19, 2022
"We found four or five so far, in the couple of weeks we've been out," she told Mashable. Her team encountered these fish during a routine survey in the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska.
"They’re found around 100 to 200 meters down. So I would say your general everyday person is never going to encounter one of these fish," Friedman told the publication.
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Describing the blotched snailfish, the scientist said that their transparent, reddish bodies are unique, and serve an important purpose. "It's an adaptation deep sea creatures like the blotched snailfish use to camouflage themselves, based on the wavelengths of light that pass through water," Friedman added.
This feature also protects the creature from predators since red light has the shortest wavelength and so it almost never reaches the deep waters, making it almost invisible to predators, Mashable reported.
Speaking about another another cool feature that blotched snailfish have, Friedman said, "They have suction cups at the bottom of their body. This helps them attach to rocks and hold tight in strong currents. The snailfish is one of few fish species that have this structure."
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