Solvin Zankl/Nature Picture Library
This humpback whale (with its wide-open jaws and sharp teeth)Melanocetus johnsonii) looks even more terrifying when its internal complexity is revealed. Also known as Johnson’s Deep Sea Monster, this deep sea monster is Solvin Zankl.
This image shows the fish after a lengthy cleaning and staining process to reveal its internal structure. Scientists used digestive enzymes to remove the soft tissues, exposing the bones and collagen, which they then stained. Blue indicates cartilage, and red indicates bone. Not all tissues become transparent during the chemical processing; for example, the black mass (left) is the fish’s stomach.
The technique offers a glimpse inside the anglerfish, from its gills to its two fearsomely impressive pairs of jaws. It’s just one of the incredible adaptations that have evolved in this deep-sea species, Zankl says. But don’t worry: Females, like the one shown here, can grow to about 153 millimeters in length, while males are just 28 millimeters.
This fish lives at depths of about 900 metres in tropical oceans. The specimen was collected from the Benguela upwelling system, a very fertile deep water area of the South Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Africa and Namibia, during a research expedition to document the wildlife in the region.
Zankl says working with scientists allows him to visit places that are normally inaccessible, because photographing the deep sea is a huge challenge. Documenting these organisms can shed light on their ecology and broader ecological processes in fragile ecosystems, he says.
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Source: www.newscientist.com
