When it comes to sea creatures, the general rule is: the deeper you go, the weirder you get. Case in point, take a look at this slimy deep-sea fish with “glowing” eyes which looks like something out of a Pokemon's nightmare.
The freakish fish was caught off the coast of Canada, near the French territory Saint Pierre and Miquelon, during a commercial fishing trip looking to catch cod and redfish. The 1-meter (3-foot) green-eyed fish was swept up in the nets by accident and is thought to have been dead when it arrived on the boat.
Scott Tanner, a Nova Scotian fisherman on board the ship, managed to catch a quick snap of the fish before they returned it to the sea.
"All the production stopped and everything so everybody could check it out," Scott told CBC News.
He added, “Even the older guys that are 50, 60 years old, they've seen maybe one in their lifetime so they thought it was pretty neat and I snapped a couple pictures."
Identifying the fish stumped the experienced crew, although it’s believed it is a longnose chimaera (Rhinochimaera atlantica), although they go by other names such as bigspine spookfish, narrownose chimaera or bentnose rabbitfish. These “prehistoric” fish live in the depths of the North Atlantic Ocean known to lurk as deep as 1,500 meters (5,000 feet).
Dominique Didier, a professor of biology at Millersville University in Pennsylvania, told Live Science that very little is known about these fish as they live so deep. However, she goes on to say that their noses are equipped with electroreceptors.
She added, "They're the coolest fish on the planet… When they come up, they often expel their guts because of the pressure [change]."
