According to a new study, in the dark depths of the ocean, where camouflage can save lives, scientists discovered the blackest fish ever documented.
Researchers have found 16 species of so-called ultra-black fish, which by definition absorb more than 99.5 percent of light, turning them into mere shadows as they swim, the scientists wrote in a study published Thursday in the journal Current Biology, according to The New York Times
“In the deep, open ocean, there is nowhere to hide and many hungry predators,” said zoologist Karen Osborn of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and co-author of the study, according to Reuters. “An animal’s only option is to blend into the background.”
THE JACK OF ALL-TRADES FISH LEARNS TO WALK TO LAND FOR ITS DIET, THE STUDY SAYS
And while little light penetrates below 650 feet, some of the ultra-black fish live three miles below the surface, according to Reuters.
As the species evolved, they modified their skin pigment through continuous layers of melanosomes, which store light-absorbing melanin, to more easily hide from predators, The Times reported. “It’s like looking at a black hole,” Duke University biologist Alexander Davis, co-author of the study, told the newspaper.
A bioluminescent monkfish documented by the team absorbs a staggering 99.95 percent light, making the fish virtually invisible.
Prosanta Chakrabarty, a biologist from Louisiana State University who was not involved in the study, told The Times: “I wouldn’t be surprised if we haven’t found the blackest fish in the sea yet.”
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Other species documented in the study include fang tooth, black swallower, and Pacific black dragon, according to Reuters.
