Fish With Transparent Head Filmed
For
the first time, a large Pacific barreleye fish - complete with
transparent head - has been caught on film by scientists using remotely
operated vehicles at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. The
deep-sea fish's tubular eyes pivot under a clear dome.
The Pacific barreleye lives in the
bathypelagic, marine, depth range 16 - 1015 m environment.
It is recognized for a highly unusual
transparent, fluid-filled dome on its head, through which the lenses of its
eyes can be seen. The eyes have a barrel shape and can be rotated to point
either forward or straight up, looking through the fish's transparent dome
The Pacific barreleye fish (Macropinna microstoma) has been known since
1939, but trawled up specimens were in poor condition and did not reveal the
fish’s weirdest characteristic - a transparent head!
