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Like so many water-type Pok้mon, we’ve seen everything from dangly anglerfish to ballooning eels to, of course, tons of weird octopi.
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Now, however, an ultra-rare wild whalefish has appeared! And it has no scales, tiny eyes, and is generally haunting.
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Live Science picked up on the new glimpse of the whalefish. Which, let us tell you people, is a bizarre creature even for life residing in the “midnight zone” of the ocean.
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This particular specimen swam past a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) as the submersible explored waters at a depth of 6,600 feet, offshore from Monterey Bay, California.
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For the unfamiliar, whalefish, or cetomimiformes, are fish that look like whales. (Surprise!) That’s where the similarities end, though.
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As the whalefish’s odd breeding methods and growth cycles mean that things get real whacky.
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Male whalefish, for example, feed off of their huge livers and use their large nasal organs to sniff for females.
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The males also look utterly different from the females due to the order of fish displaying extreme sexual dimorphism.
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In the video above, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) shows us their glimpse of a female whalefish.
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Note that females are much larger than the males—18 inches versus 1.5 inches!—and have a fiery orange color.
The color is intrinsic and not due to the ROV’s lights; that incredible hue happens to help the fish blend in.
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Perhaps the most fascinating part of the female whalefish, however, is how it sees. Or rather, doesn’t see.
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As a female whalefish evolves from a larva (or a “tapetail”) into an adult, it loses its eyes’ lenses and the ability to form images.
Consequently, a system of pressure-sensing pores that runs along its head and down the length of its body develops.
