A deep sea Roundnose Grenadier
A deep sea Roundnose Grenadier swimming over the seafloor. Notice the large eyes and dorsal fin. Grenadiers feed on fishes, small shrimp and other invertebrates.
It has a Large, rounded head. Body tapers down to pointed end. Eyes are large, the mouth is relatively small, and there is a small barbule present on the chin.
Scales are large, hard and closely connected to the body with very small spines present, giving this species a tough skin.
Also first dorsal fin is very high and triangular, with the second dorsal fin very small, long and barely visible. Therefore its anal fin is elongated and runs the length of the underside of the body. Flanks and back are usually grey to light brown in color with fins sometimes being black.
To avoid being detected by predators, it can go into stealth mode. It uses the light organ on its belly to mask its silhouette from below and hide in plain sight from predators looking upward for food.
