Deep-sea animals have a variety of remarkable adaptations to help them hide in the midnight zone. But the fascinating fishes featured in this video have the best strategy to hide from predators and prey in this dark expanse: skin shades among the blackest of blacks known. While there is no sunlight deep in the ocean, more than 75 percent of deep-sea life can produce light, a process called bioluminescence. When a single photon can blow your cover, ultra-black camouflage keeps these fishes hidden in the wide open darkness and also enables them to sneak up on unsuspecting shrimp or fish for a tasty meal.
Ultra-black fishes have unique structures in their skin that very efficiently trap and absorb light. Melanin-the same pigment found in human skin-is densely packed into super thin layers on the outermost surface of their skin. While most light photons are immediately absorbed, the specific shape, size, and configuration of these melanin layers scatters any missed photons into neighboring skin cells, where they are subsequently absorbed. Ultimately, ultra-black skin absorbs 99.5 percent (or more) of the visible light with virtually none reflected.
The very blackest fishes known in the deep sea are the dreamer anglerfishes (Oneirodes sp.). Anglerfishes have a bioluminescent lure they use to attract a snack. Their ultra-black skin absorbs the bioluminescent glow so as not to reveal the giant mouth just beyond the lure. This incredible skin adaptation has evolved in many other fish species as well.
Dive into the deep with MBARI’s Animals of the Deep gallery: mbari.co/AnimalsOfTheDeep
Video producer/editor: Kyra Schlining
Science advisor: Karen Osborn
Video production team: Nancy Jacobsen Stout, Susan von Thun
Music: Ultrablack by Catechism (cccatechism.bandcamp.com/)
Featured in this video (named in order of appearance, plus depth and location information):
0:00 Black dragonfish (Idiacanthus sp.) | 527 meters (1,729 feet) | Greater Monterey Bay area
0:07 Barreleye ( Macropinna microstoma) | 582 meters (1,909 feet) | Davidson Seamount
0:15 Shiny loosejaw (Aristostomias scintillans) | 497 meters (1,631 feet) | Monterey Canyon
0:23 Fangtooth (Anoplogaster cornuta) | 796 meters (2,612 feet) | Monterey Canyon
0:32 Smooth dreamer anglerfish (Chaenophryne sp.) | 632 meters (2,073 feet) | Monterey Canyon
0:38 Black dragonfish (Idiacanthus sp.) | 527 meters (1,729 feet) | Greater Monterey Bay area
0:50 Longfin dragonfish (Tactostoma macropus) | 549 meters (1,801 feet) | Monterey Canyon
0:56 Dreamer anglerfish (Oneirodes sp.) | 633 meters (2,077 feet) | Monterey Canyon
1:03 Pacific flatnose (Antimora microlepis) | 1,528 meters (5,013 feet) | Monterey Canyon
1:11 Rattail (Coryphaenoides sp.) | 1,831 meters (6,007 feet) | Monterey Canyon
1:21 California slickhead (Alepocephalus tenebrosus) | 2,322 meters (7,618 feet) | Davidson Seamount
1:30 Pacific flatnose (Antimora microlepis) | 1,606 meters (5,269 feet) | Astoria Canyon, off Oregon
1:42 Slickhead (Alepocephalus sp.) | 903 meters (2,963 feet) | Catalina Island
1:48 Threadfin slickhead (Talismania bifurcata) | 1,031 meters (3,383 feet) | Monterey Canyon
1:58 Barreleye (Macropinna microstoma) | 636 meters (2,087 feet) | Monterey Canyon
2:11 Smooth dreamer anglerfish (Chaenophryne sp.) | 632 meters (2,073 feet) | Monterey Canyon
2:19 Longfin dragonfish (Tactostoma macropus) | 439 meters (1,440 feet) | Monterey Canyon
2:25 Dreamer anglerfish (Oneirodes sp.) | 633 meters (2,077 feet) | Monterey Canyon
2:30 Shiny loosejaw (Aristostomias scintillans) | 497 meters (1,631 feet) | Monterey Canyon
2:41 Fangtooth (Anoplogaster cornuta) | 1,713 meters (5,620 feet) | Monterey Canyon
2:54 Black dragonfish (Idiacanthus sp.) | 440 meters (1,444 feet) | Monterey Canyon
References:
Davis, A.L., K.N. Thomas, F.E. Goetz, B.H. Robison, S. Johnsen, and K.J. Osborn. 2020. Ultra-black camouflage in deep-sea fishes. Current Biology, 30: 3470-3476. doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.06...