“…and today we’re talking about another disgusting deep sea creature. But more on that later.”
Deep in the dark recesses of the ocean, where the sun’s rays are only a memory, lurks a creature with an interesting talent. It’s a fish with a flash, a beast with a beacon, a predator with a peculiar penchant for pearlescence. While most of its neighbors blend seamlessly into the ink-black backdrop, this one lights up the scene—though not in a way you’d expect. It’s a little dangerous, a little dazzling, but unmistakably unique in Life, Death, and Taxonomy.
Description of the Stoplight Loosejaw
The black dragonfish has a striking and somewhat eerie appearance, fitting for a creature of the deep sea:
- It has a dark, black body, which helps it blend into the dark ocean depths.
- It has a large, gaping jaw filled with sharp, needle-like teeth.
- The lower jaw is longer and can unhinge to capture larger prey.
- Its eyes are relatively large for deep-sea fish.
Measure Up
Welcome to the beloved Measure Up segment. The official listener’s favorite part of the show! The part of the show when we present the animal’s size and dimension in relatable terms through a quiz that’s fun for the whole family. It’s also the part of the show that’s introduced by you when you send in audio of yourself saying, singing, or chittering the words Measure Up into ldtaxonomy at gmail dot com. We don’t have a new Measure Up intro!
Anglerfish (Finding Nemo) 0:33
Length
25.6 cm (10.1 inches)
- 19 are the same height as a standard top light?
- A men’s US size 8 shoe
- 30 go into the height of a free standing pizza hut
Weight
0.9 to 1.3 kilograms (2 to 3 pounds)
- A standard claw hammer
- 301 grapes
- 1287 go into a Tesla model 3
Fast Facts
The stoplight loosejaw has Circumglobal Distribution. Which means, it is found in oceans worldwide, from the tropics to the subarctic regions.
The Stoplight Loosejaw inhabits the deep sea, specifically within the mesopelagic to bathypelagic zones. This means it lives at depths ranging from 1,700 to 13,000 feet (500 to 4,000 meters) below the sea surface. These fish are found worldwide, except in the coldest regions of the Arctic and Subantarctic.
Large Jaw: Its lower jaw is about one-quarter the length of its body, and it has large, curved fangs to help capture prey.
Diet: Despite its adaptations for larger prey, it primarily feeds on zooplankton, such as calanoid copepods.
Major Fact – Gotta Cut Jawloose/Seeing Red
- Emits a unique red light, invisible to most ocean dwellers.
- Red light is rare in the deep sea, making this adaptation especially unique and effective for hunting.
- Water absorbs red light. By the time you reach the deep sea there is none left. This means that red appears black and invisible, which means many deep sea animals are red to look invisible and can’t even detect red light, so it appears invisible to them.
- Uses specialized photophores (light-producing cells) to create its signature red glow.
- Its red light can illuminate prey at close range without giving away its position.
- The Stoplight Loosejaw has highly sensitive eyes adapted to detect its own red light and spot prey from a distance.
- This “night vision” effect gives it a distinct advantage in the food-scarce depths.
- It likely uses the light to locate specific food sources, including small fish and crustaceans.
- The glow helps the Stoplight Loosejaw to spot bioluminescent prey without triggering their defenses.
- The stoplight loosejaw fish has a unique way of seeing in deep, dark waters. It uses a special chemical similar to chlorophyll to absorb sunlight to help it see red light. This chemical helps it detect light around 700 nm, which is usually too dark for fish to see. This special substance likely comes from small animals called copepods that the fish eats because no other animals can make it on their own.
- The fish also has a red “light organ” that glows. This organ is made of a pigmented sac with a shiny inside and special cells that produce light. First, these cells make blue-green light through a common chemical reaction. Then, a protein in the light organ absorbs this blue-green light and changes it to a red glow. The red light shines out through a tiny opening, where a filter changes it to an even darker red, almost like an infrared light.
- They also have a green light-producing organ, which is thought to be used in sexual selection but the behavior loosejaw is hard to study on account of its habitat. But having a green and red light make it a stoplight to be sure.
Ending: So let your jaw hit the floor, and remember that red light stop, green light also stop like the stoplight loosejaw here in LDT.