A rare predatory fish which lives 2,000 metres below sea level has been spotted in broad daylight.
Spanish shark researchers say they may have captured the first-ever footage of a black seadevil fish.
The black seadevil, also known as a humpback anglerfish, came to the water’s surface 2 km from the coast of Tenerife, leaving scientists puzzled.
The predatory fish, with sinister sharp teeth and gaping jaws, typically only inhabits the ocean’s sunless depths, around 200 to 2,000 metres below sea level.
However, photographer David Jara Boguñá and a team of shark researchers at Condrik Tenerife followed one for more than an hour last week, which shocked onlookers due to it being only six inches long.
Marine biologist Laia Valor, who was also part of the shark expedition, told the EFE news agency: ‘We were returning to port when I saw something black in the water that didn’t look like plastic or debris. It seemed unusual.’
‘There could be thousands of reasons why it was there.’
‘We simply don’t know. It’s an extremely rare and isolated sighting.’
Scientists have been dumbfounded by the discovery, with each positing new theories as to why the terrifying fish turn up on the water’s surface.
The team from Condrik speculated that it may have been unwell or fleeing from a predator.
Expert Bruce Robison told National Geographic the black seadevil could have been swallowed by a larger predator and then spat out closer to the waterline.
The humpback anglerfish died shortly after the footage was taken, but its sighting will still prove hugely valuable to those researching the deep sea.
David Jara Boguña said on Instagram: ‘This could be the first recorded sighting in the world of a black demon or adult abyssal (Melanocetus johnsonii) alive, in broad daylight and on the surface.
‘A legendary fish that few people will have had the privilege of observing alive.
‘Apparently, the existing records to date correspond to larvae, dead adult specimens, or recordings made with submarines.
‘This surprising discovery did not leave the crew indifferent and will be remembered forever.’
The body of the fish was later given to the Museum of Nature and Archaeology of Tenerife.
Despite only being about six inches long, Black seadevils came to fame during a terrifying scene in the 2003 film Finding Nemo, when the creature lures Marlin and Dory with its glowing appendage.
Indeed female black devils use their bioluminescent ‘fishing poles’ to bait their prey.
The creatures live without sunlight due to their depth below land, but scientists know black seadevils make their light using glowing bacteria.
The mysterious fish mate even more bizarrely. The far smaller males will fuse their bodies to a female, who uses their genetic material when she’s ready to reproduce.
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