#anoplogaster

Anoplogaster ( Fangtooth)

Pelagic fangtooths are among the deepest-living fish, found as far as 5,000 m (16,000 ft) down.The fangtooth is found throughout the world in temperate and tropical ocean regions including the waters off the coast of Australia. It is one of the deepest living fish species yet discovered.Fangtooth fish are deep water fish that eat fish, crustaceans and squid.According to BBC's Blue Planet, episode "The Deep", the fangtooth has the largest teeth of any fish in the ocean, proportionate to body size, and are so large, they can never close their mouths. Size: 7 cm (Anoplogaster brachycera) and 17 cm (Anoplogaster cornuta)

Bumping into a common fangtooth can be a deadly mistake for squid and smaller fish. Because the predator has poor eyesight, it relies on the motion-sensing cells along its lateral line—an enlarged sensory strip that runs the length of the fish’s body—to detect prey. Juveniles lose the bright, plankton-filtering gills seen on this individual when they mature and descend into some of the deepest depths of any known fish, often more than 5,000 meters (16,000 feet) beneath the ocean surface.

anoplogaster cornuta in progress