00:00deep sea angler fish are strange and elusive creatures that are very rarely observed in their natural habitat fewer than
00:07half a dozen have ever been captured on film or video by deep diving research vehicles this little angler about
00:14nine centimeters long is named melanocetus
00:17it is also known as the black sea devil and it lives in the deep dark waters of the monterey
00:23canyon we believe that this is the first video footage ever made of this species alive and at depth
00:29anglers have a remarkable apparatus on their heads a fishing pole with a luminous lure at the tip which they
00:35use to attract their prey in the darkness of deep water they flash the light to attract prey and draw
00:41them near the angler's mouth when a fish or squid swims up it is quickly inhaled by the angler's huge
00:47mouth entrapped by its long sharp teeth
00:49given the shape of this angler's body it is pretty clearly not designed for speed instead these are ambush predators
00:56lurking in the darkness to grab an unwary meal
01:00another thing we can tell from the shape of the body is that this is a female in this species
01:05the males are much smaller and they lack the fishing pole and lure males are ill-equipped for feeding and
01:11their sole responsibility appears to be to find a female and mate with her as soon as possible
01:16when we came upon this specimen at a depth of about six hundred metres we noted that she has a
01:22broken tooth you can see it on the left side of her lower jaw we have no idea whether it
01:27will be replaced by another after it falls off so far as we know there is no tooth fairy in
01:33the deep ocean
01:33you can see that the eyes of this angler are quite small in their dark habitat anglerfish rely more on
01:40feeling the movements of other animals in the water around them than on vision
01:44the tiny pale dots you see along the sides of the fish and on its head are organs very sensitive
01:51to the slightest movements and they function very effectively in the dark
01:55the deep sea is filled with surprises and wonderful creatures humans have only just begun to explore this vast realm
02:02and we can only imagine what discoveries are yet to be made
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