Blue Snaggletooth
Astronesthes cyaneus
About
The blue snaggletooth is a small deep-sea fish that carries its own lights. It lives between 120 and 800 metres, well below the reach of divers, in water that holds no daylight worth the name. At 10.8 cm it is smaller than it sounds, and almost all of that length is a slim dark body built for open water. Its lights come in two kinds: one large glowing patch on each gill cover, and many smaller ones set in rows along the body.
- Length
- 10.8 cm
- Depth
- up to 800 m
How to tell it apart
Snaggletooths are dark, small and similar, so the giveaway is the spacing of the small lights along the body. On this species they are many and tightly packed, running almost in a straight, continuous line. Close relatives carry far fewer of them, set well apart.
Appearance
A slim, dark fish. The body is black, though freshly caught fish look pink and turn whitish once preserved. A big light-producing patch sits on the bones of the gill cover, and rows of small light organs run along the body in closely set lines. Maximum length is 10.8 cm.
Did you know?
The chin whisker is a male thing here. In males it is about as long as the whole head, while in females it is barely there at all.
Log it in Into the Blue
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