Video: Mysterious shape-shifting fish spotted off California coast
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Scientists piloting a robot submarine have spotted a mysterious shape-shifting fish deep inside the sea, near California, US. These scientists are from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.
This shape-shifting fish is a bright orange, female whalefish. This is only the 18th time that scientists have spotted this fish in 34 years of deep-sea exploration. So, they know only very little about it.
Whalefishes were first recorded in 1895, more than 100 years ago. But even now, scientists do not know much about them.
These fish are called “shape-shifting fish” because they change their looks three times throughout their lives. These forms look so different that scientists thought they were different animals altogether.
What is this shape-shifting fish like?
When they are young, these shape-shifting fish are called tapetails. They do not have scales and have long, streamer-like tails and mouths that look like overbites. They live and feed near the ocean’s surface.
But when they become adults, they look very different, depending on if they are male or female. Males are usually very small while females grow much much larger.
This shape-shifting fish and its transformation is something that is not seen in other vertebrates. A vertebrate is an animal, bird or fish that has a bone along its back (a backbone).
#FreshFromTheDeep: A whalefish was spotted last week with ROV Doc Ricketts!
This whalefish (order Cetomimiformes) was encountered by @beroe's team on their R/V Western Flyer expedition 2,013 meters deep offshore of Monterey Bay. pic.twitter.com/vm7rtbJLwE
— MBARI (@MBARI_News) August 6, 2021
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