Have you ever seen a fish with a transparent head? The barreleye fish (Macropinna microstoma) has a transparent head through which it observes and responds to the world around it. Its emerald eyes appear like two bottle caps seated inside the transparent head.
An impressive feat of nature and evolution, the barreleye fish roams the deep ocean, 600-800 metres beneath the surface where most animals have some form of bioluminescence that protect them against predators by masking their silhouette, The Guardian explained.
MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)
Uniqueness of the barreleye fish
The barreleye fish is special though, for it can differentiate between sunlight and bioluminescence, according to Bruce Robison, a deep-sea biologist from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California. Due to this, the barreleye fish can clearly view all animals trying to mask their silhouette.
MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)
The fish can also rotate its eyes, Robison found as their team looked at a barreleye fish through a remote vehicle’s camera. This essentially means that the fish is able to track prey in the water until “it is right in front of their mouth.”
Coming across this semi-transparent fish is not easy. In fact, Robison told The Guardian that in this 30-year career, he had only witnessed the barreleye fish about eight times.
MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)
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