Extreme lifestyle in the deep sea

In a bizarre deep-sea version of foie gras, male whalefish stuff themselves with copepods early in life to fatten their liver, and then stop eating and consume their own liver while pursuing mates. The lifestyle choice is so extreme that these perversely named small fish actually lose their stomach and esophagus while relying on energy stored in their distended liver (see photo, right).

Female whalefish, being more conventional, continue to eat and do the other normal things that fish do. Males and females of the deep sea whalefish are so different that they were thought to be different species until DNA sequencing revealed the strange truth.

The habits of male whalefish rival the extreme adaptations to the deep sea of the bizarre male anglerfish which transforms into a parasitic appendange of the female anglerfish.

An interesting scientific backstory is that male, female, and juvenile whalefish are so different that they were thought to be three different scientific families of fish, only very distantly related. How strange is it that they're really all the same species? According to the Virginia Institute of Marine Science press release:

To put the team’s discovery into perspective, consider that cats, dogs, and walruses also represent three biological families. It’s as if the researchers discovered that dogs are really male walruses, and that kittens aren’t cats but a walrus’s juvenile form.

Their findings, published in the January 22 issue of Biology Letters, represent “the most extreme example of metamorphoses and sexual dimorphism ever documented in vertebrates.”

From the more turgid scientific paper:

We resolve a long-standing biological and taxonomic conundrum by documenting the most extreme example of ontogenetic metamorphoses and sexual dimorphism in vertebrates...Larvae have small, upturned mouths and gorge on copepods. Females have huge gapes with long, horizontal jaws and specialized gill arches allowing them to capture larger prey. Males cease feeding, lose their stomach and oesophagus, and apparently convert the energy from the bolus of copepods found in all transforming males to a massive liver that supports them throughout adult life.

hat tip: Branch

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Flamboyant new squid worm

It's a squid. No, it's a worm. It's a squid worm.

Scientists diving deep off the Philippines in 2007 found the Star Wars-looking squid worm. According to National Geographic:

"Relatively long, at nearly four inches (nine centimeters), the new annelid worm earned its moniker with a head that looks as if it's covered

in tentacles.

Its front end bristles with eight arms used for breathing—each as long as the worm's entire body—and two long, loosely coiled appendages employed for feeding.

As if that weren't enough hardware, six pairs of feathery sensory organs—the squid worm's collective "nose"—protrude from the new species' head. And along the length of its body, the worm has iridescent "paddles" for propulsion."

Just another day in paradise--the deep sea.

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Humpback blackdevil, a real sea monster in miniature

The name sounds bad and a picture of this fish looks even worse (right). Yikes. This is a sea monster I hope to never see underwater.

Except...wait...it's only a couple of inches long, whew.

But imagine having to meet this thing on it's own terms as a prey species. Look at those teeth.

How does this real sea monster make a living?

The ‘humpback blackdevil’ anglerfish (Melanocetus johnsoni), dangles a bioluminescent light from its forehead in order to lure prey within gulping range. Because this method of feeding is so effective, this fish has little need of swimming muscles and hence the tiny body in relation to its ferocious-looking head.

Of course, don't forget the most interesting thing about anglerfish, the "parasitic male" mating strategy.

The scary fish above is a female, and if you look carefully you might find the parasitic male looking like a small bump or appendange on the body of the female.

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Finding coral

You think it's easy to find coral? Then you're not thinking about that rarest and most special of corals, the deep sea variety.

The Finding Coral expedition, sponsored by the Living Oceans Society, is doing heroic work in finding deep corals in British Columbia's ocean waters, and documenting threats to their survival.

The videos are great, they give a sense of what it's like to go deep looking for corals, with a strong dose of threats along with the beautiful footage.

Stop by and join the expedition...

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Crazy weird fish

It's a plane! It's a submarine! No, it's a barreleye fish.

This deep sea fish has freaky tubular eyes, embedded within a transparent head. Why? To see in the dark and battle stinging siphonophores for food. At least that's one theory.

I think it just wants to win the prize for best imitation of a submarine by a marine fish.

See the barreleye (aka spookfish) swim in this YouTube video sure to hit the top ten.



hat tip: Deep Sea News

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Peter's excellent deep sea adventure

Blog maven Peter Etnoyer actually did some real work, and he's getting some fanstastic results and real-world respect. So much for the stereotype that bloggers are do-nothings.

Here's his description of the new species he discovered, a new species of deep-sea bamboo coral, a calcareous sea fan called Isidella.

Even more stunning, here's a YouTube video of the actual moment of discovery. Set to music, it's a poignant chronicle of the great passion of discovery, and the clumsy, robotic moves involved in plucking a specimen off the sea bottom and pocketing it for later study.

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Ocean observatory now live off California

Ever want to know what's going on in the deep ocean? Hey, it's more interesting than you think, with giant squid that could eat you like an appetizer, and massive deep-sea "landslides."

Well, lucky you, the first deep sea observatory is now operational off the US coast, 3,000 feet under the ocean surface. This observatory will allow scientists unprecedented access to the deep sea for observations and experiments, and if you win the lottery you can use it too.*

More than just a camera for watching stuff, the observatory is also an underwater power strip and internet connection, allowing scientists to "plug-in" their instruments and stream lots of data back home through a massive cable buried in the ocean bottom.

*just kidding about the lottery.

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