their natural habitat. Fewer than half a dozen have ever been captured on film or video by

deep-diving research vehicles. This little angler, about 9 cm long, is named Melanocetus.

It is also known as the Black Seadevil and it lives in the deep dark waters of the Monterey

Canyon. We believe that this is the first video footage ever made of this species alive

and at depth.

Anglers have a remarkable apparatus on their heads -- a fishing pole with a luminous lure

at the tip -- which they use to attract their prey. In the darkness of deep water they flash

the light to attract prey and draw them near the angler's mouth. When a fish or a squid swims

up, it is quickly inhaled by the angler's huge mouth and trapped by its long, sharp

teeth. Given the shape of this angler's body, it is pretty clearly not designed for speed.

Instead, these are ambush predators, lurking in the darkness to grab an unwary meal.

Another thing we can tell from the shape of the body is that this is a female. In this

species the males are much smaller and they lack the fishing pole and lure. Males are

ill-equipped for feeding and their sole responsibility appears to be to find a female and mate with

her as soon as possible.

When we came upon this specimen, at a depth of about 600 m, we noted that she has a broken

tooth, you can see it on the left side of her lower jaw. We have no idea whether it

will be replaced by another after it falls off. So far as we know, there is no tooth

fairy in the deep ocean. You can see that the eyes of this angler are quite small. In

their dark habitat anglerfish rely more on feeling the movements of other animals in

the water around them than on vision. The tiny pale dots you see along the sides of

the fish and on its head are organs very sensitive to the slightest movements and they function

very effectively in the dark.

The deep-sea is filled with surprises and wonderful creatures. Humans have only just

begun to explore this vast realm and we can only imagine what discoveries are yet to be

made.