Subject:  07/95 Deep sea hunters.GIF
Author:  Roberto Osti
Uploaded By:  CHansen598
Date:  6/7/1995

File:  robis08.GIF (74429 bytes) 
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From the July 1995 issue of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

Light in the Ocean's Midwaters

by Bruce H. Robison

This 640 x 186 pixel painting depicts the hunters and the hunted.  Dragonfish attracts its prey into striking distance with a bioluminescent lure suspended from its chin. Colobonema, a small bioluminescent medusa, can jettison its brightly colored tentacles to distract predators. Paralepidids are a type of "shadow stalker." These fish often hang vertically, looking for the silhouettes of their prey. Bathyphysa is a gelatinous animal that lacks eyes but can nonetheless sense light. Eelpout fish sometimes avoid predators (such as hake) by curling up.