Recently, marine biologists found a mysterious and rare deep-sea fish, bathophilus flemingi, in Monterey Bay, California. It is the rarest of all arowana species. Previously, scientists found only a few live arowanas.
Over the past 30 years, scientists have proved that high finned arowana is the most elusive. They live 300 meters below the sea floor. Bruce Robison, a senior scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Institute (MBARI), said that it is an amazing animal, especially their body color pattern. The scales of high finned arowana are flashing bronze metal, which is different from any other fish living in the deep sea.
The copper pigment in fish skin may actually be a form of camouflage, because this deep pigment absorbs the residual blue light, making them almost invisible in the environment. When we irradiate it with white light, the body presents a very beautiful bronze metallic color.
This body color camouflage is very suitable for high fin arowana. It is an ambush predator, floating in the dark ocean, waiting for small fish and crustaceans to swim and attack suddenly. These prey do not appear randomly. Biological fluorescent filaments extend at the chin of high fin arowana, which will attract the prey to a closer area.
Robinson said: "It uses bait to attract prey. When the prey sees the glowing objects, it will be attracted and considered as potential food. When the prey is close enough, the sharp teeth of high fin arowana will bite the prey tightly. At the same time, they use bioluminescence not only to catch food, but also to avoid being eaten. Many deep-sea fishermen look up for prey. In order to confuse them in the bright upper environment, there are glowing on both sides of high fin arowana Organs that dynamically match the color and intensity of the light on the body, thus eliminating the body contour of the fish. "