Hairy angler
Encyclopedia
The Hairy angler is a deep sea
fish
.
The female is about the size of a football and its body is covered in long antennae, used to detect the movements of any prey nearby. The male is about a tenth her size - the size of a ping pong ball. He forms a parasitic relation with the female, attaching himself to her flesh, ultimately sharing in her blood circulation and becoming a dependable source of semen
. It is thought that the extremely rare meeting of males and females would lead to such an arrangement.
The Hairy Angler has an expanding stomach so that it is capable of eating other fish bigger than itself — due to the scarcity of passing food. It lives in the dark zone, over 1000 metres (3,300 feet) below the surface of the ocean, so although its skin is red, this will actually render it invisible, as red light does not penetrate to this depth. Because of its deep habitat
, very little is known about the Hairy Angler.
This fish was featured in the documentary series The Blue Planet
.
Deep sea
The deep sea, or deep layer, is the lowest layer in the ocean, existing below the thermocline and above the seabed, at a depth of 1000 fathoms or more. Little or no light penetrates this part of the ocean and most of the organisms that live there rely for subsistence on falling organic matter...
fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
.
The female is about the size of a football and its body is covered in long antennae, used to detect the movements of any prey nearby. The male is about a tenth her size - the size of a ping pong ball. He forms a parasitic relation with the female, attaching himself to her flesh, ultimately sharing in her blood circulation and becoming a dependable source of semen
Semen
Semen is an organic fluid, also known as seminal fluid, that may contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize female ova...
. It is thought that the extremely rare meeting of males and females would lead to such an arrangement.
The Hairy Angler has an expanding stomach so that it is capable of eating other fish bigger than itself — due to the scarcity of passing food. It lives in the dark zone, over 1000 metres (3,300 feet) below the surface of the ocean, so although its skin is red, this will actually render it invisible, as red light does not penetrate to this depth. Because of its deep habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
, very little is known about the Hairy Angler.
This fish was featured in the documentary series The Blue Planet
The Blue Planet
The Blue Planet is a BBC nature documentary series narrated by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the UK from 12 September 2001.Described as "the first ever comprehensive series on the natural history of the world's oceans", each of the eight 50-minute episodes examines a different aspect of...
.