Black dragonfish(Idiacanthus atlanticus ) swimming in the semitropic and temperate waters of the Southern Hemisphere , traveling as inscrutable as 2,000 meters ( 6,562 human foot ) below the surface of the ocean .
The unusual mintage are sexually dimorphic , meaning the male and females await remarkably different from each other . The female person have barbel on their chin , fang - like tooth and can grow up to 40 cm in distance .
Males , on the other hand , have no Kuki-Chin barbels , lack teeth and are just five cm long . They also lack a useable bowel , which mean they never eat , and only live long enough to mate .
Researchers think the gender difference is an evolutionary method to reduce rivalry for resources while still retain the ability to mix their genes through sexual replication .
As with many deep sea creatures , these bioluminescent fish have photophores that can give rise Inner Light . research worker believe the luminous tip on the barbel acts like a fishing lure , wag languidly through the water supply while flickering on and off to attract the tending of their prey .
The larvaeof the black dragonfish also have their own lot of unusual trait . The larvae are transparent with center at the lead of long stalks that are half their body in length . As they mature , the angry walk shorten until they become absorbed into the sockets of the skull . It is also during this time that they change into either the ink - grim color of womanhood or the dark brown color of manhood .
acknowledgment : Photograph by Carole Baldwin.http://www.mnh.si.edu/expeditions/galapagos/larval-dragonfish.htm
Pacific Blackdragon(Idiacanthus antrostomus )
The Pacific blackdragonis similar in appearance to the black dragonfish , but as the name suggests , they are incur in the easterly Pacific Ocean . They are one of three mintage in theIdiacanthusgenus of barbeled dragonfishes . Although these slim Pisces the Fishes drop most of their time in deep waters , they are known to transmigrate toward the surface at night . The Pacific Blackdragon provender on crustaceans , peewee and other fish . And while they look eel - like in appearance , they are not closely tie in .
credit rating : Jason Bradley.BradleyPhotographic.com
For more wonderfully wierd images of the black dragonfish , a gallery from IMGUR is below .
