This mysterious fish became a viral phenomenon. Here is the reason. : Sciences

In February, researchers at the Conservation Organization Condrik Tenerife were about two kilometers off the coast of Tenerife who searched for Haie when they saw something much more strange.

Photographer David Jara Boguñá filmed a humpback anglerfish (Melanocetus Johnsonii, A kind of black Seadevil) swim near the surface in sunny waters. These fish have never been seen in daylight because they usually live in the “Twilight zone” in depths from 200 m to 600 m.

The video has provoked an enormously sensitive reaction on social media, with some seeing the fish as feminist icon or an icarus -like figure that swam too close to the sun. The reaction shows our views over the deep sea – ignored for a long time or regarded as the realm of monsters – finally change.

@jara.natura

¡¡Podría Tratarse del Primer Avistamiento Registo en el mundo de un diablo Negro o rape abiisal adulto (melanocetus johnsonii) vivo, a posa luz del día y en la oberficie. Al Parecer, Los Registros have Hasta la Fecha a larvas, ejemplares Aduldos muertos o Grabados con submarinos. Emergiendo de las Profundidades Abisales en natación vertical, a tan solo 2 km de la Costa de tenerife y durante una campaña de Investigación de tiburones pelágicos organization organization la Ong en Oberficie. Acto Seguido, Los Biólogos Marc Martín (IG @Vidamarina.tenerife), Antonio Sabuco (IG @Sabu726), Y YO MISMO (IG @jara.natura) Registraron Imágenes Espectaculares e Inuales del Animal. Se trata de un Verdadero depedador de las profundidades, que habita en el fondo marino entrre los 200 y los 2000m de profundidad y que utiliza su a apéndice dorsal repleto de bacterias simbióticas bioluminiscentes a modo de cebo para atraer a sus presas, de la misma forma que en la popul Película de “Buscando a nemo”. El motifo de su prescia en aguas tan Oberficiales es Incierto. Puede Que Por Enfermedad, Una Corriente Ascendede, Huyendo de Un Detedador etc. SU Género “Melanocetus” Significant “Monstro Marino Negro”, un nombre que no sorprende con estas imágenes. Amplient Distribuido, Habita Los Mares Tropicales Y Subtropicales de Todo El Mundo, Sisgo Citado Por Primera vez en las Costas de Madeira. Estonian Hallazgo No Dejó a la Tripulación Indiferente Y Será Recordado Para Siempre. #Pecesabisales #anglerfish #abisal #melanocetus #islascanarias @divevolk_es @cressi 1946 @Mares @national geographic españa @nat geo animals @national geographic tv @bcearthcape #fife #faufleitung #fippe #Faunamarina #faunamogravices #faunamarina #faunamarina #fifrife #faunamographies #faunamarina #faunemographies #faunamarina #faunamarina #fagagaghemographice #faunamo #faunaespañola

♬ Overture – Andrew Lloyd Webber & “The Phantom of the Opera” Original London Cast

The strange life of fishing fish

Fishing fish are much smaller than you probably think they are. The turned copy Boguñá was a woman who typically became up to 15 cm long.

The creatures are named after their Bioluminescent bait (or ESCA). This modified back fin beam can create a light that is used for fishing (or angle) for the prey in the weak depths of the sea. The bioluminescence is generated by symbiotic bacteria that live in the bulbous head of the ESCA.

The legendary bait is missing and is much smaller and usually only reaches a length of only 3 cm.

A male fishing fish spends the first part of his life looking for a woman he will then attach to. Finally, he will live his circulatory system with its merger, depending on it exclusively for nutrients and his life as parasites or “lively testicles”.

It is not known why this fish swam vertically near the surface. The researchers have speculated that the behavior may be related to changes in the water temperature or that the fish was simply at the end of their lives.

Observers watched the fish for several hours until it died. His body was preserved and brought to the Museum of Nature and Archeology in Santa Cruz de Tenife, where it is further examined.

Sympathy for the Seadevil

The video quickly became viral and inspired countless reaction videos, works of art, memes, an animation in pixar style and a poem entitled Icarus is the anglerfish.

A Reddit user commented:

I like to think that she is a respected old grandmother who has dreamed of her whole life to see the sunlight and the world over the water. She knows that her time is almost, so she said goodbye to her friends and family and swam towards the light and whatever it could think for her when her life comes to an end.

One person described the fish in the sense of an inspiring obsession that fulfilled the same role for them as the Roman Empire fulfilled the same role for many men.

Boguñá and Condrik Tenerife have commented on the public reaction since then. (The original contribution is in Spanish, but the automated English translation of Instagram is below.)

He has become a global icon, that is clear. But far away from the romance and the attempt to humanize tragic history, I think that this event has awakened the curiosity of the sea, especially the younger ones, and perhaps also that messages can achieve so many more people about the preservation of the sea ecosystem.

From the horrors to heroes

The expression of empathy for the fishing fish is unexpected. With their shining heads and catch covers, the creatures have long been archetypal horrors of the abyss.

As I wrote elsewhere, the extreme sexual dimorphism and parasitism of the anglerfish, together with its disturbing anatomy, made it the “iconic ambassador of the deep sea”.

Angler fish or angler inspired aliens have appeared in films such as Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Finding Nemo (2003), The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (2004) and Luca (2021) as antagonists.

The reception of “Icarus” (as some you call) in popular culture indicates a perhaps surprising ability to empathy against animals that are not conventionally sweet or beautiful. It stands in strong contrast to the fate of the psychrolute of Tiefsee Blobfish Marcidus, which was elected as the ugliest animal in the world in 2013.

Perhaps the name is a note: people have seen a creature in the fish that tries to reach the light that has died from the consequences of their search.

But risk our projection of human emotions and wishes on non -human animals misunderstood scientific reality? With almost quite certainty – but as the US researcher of Environmental Humanities Stacy Alaimo argued, this could also have advantages:

Tiefsee creatures are often represented as extraterrestrials from another planet, and I think that is interested in people because we are all interested in novelty and craziness and surreal […] I think that can be positive, but the idea of ​​alien can also do us from any responsibility.

The deep sea and its inhabitants are exposed to growing threats from marine floor reduction, plastic pollution and the effects of the climate change induced by humans. You need all the empathy you can get.

Prema Arasu, postdoctoral research result, Messgeroo-Uwa research center of the University of Western Australia

This article will be released from the conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.