The deep sea is dark and full of terrors , one of which is thebarbeled dragonfish . These critters , belong to a mathematical group of ray - break water deep - sea swimmers named Stomiidae , are n’t particularly healthy – reaching a maximum duration of 26 centimeters ( about 10 inches ) – but they do have genuinely capriciously outsize jaw .
These bantam nightmare are able to give their fang - breed mouths up to 120 ° , which would be like turning a human jaw into something resemble a pigboat hachure . Thanks to this weird ability , these dragonfish are able to gobble up target ordinarily far too self-aggrandizing for a predator of their size .
Until now , however , scientists were n’t exactly indisputable how they managed to do this without snapping their head in half . Deciding to solve this curious conundrum once and for all , two researchers from Paris ’ National Museum of Natural History and Washington DC ’s Smithsonian Institution set to work .
An X - shaft of light of the freakish chief . Science Newsvia YouTube
Getting a clutches of nine preserved dragonfish specimens , the pair subjected them to X - ray as they manually get out out their jaws using a pair of science tweezers . Writing in the journalPLOS One , they explain that five of them had a soft tissue juncture that bridged their heads with their spines .
This “ notochordal case ” coated in a connective muscle stretches out like an flexible circle when the Pisces open their sass , which take into account them to pull their jaw back much further than would otherwise be await . This mean that they can gulp up entire crustaceans almost the exact same size of it as themselves .
Adding to their creepiness , most of these dragonfish experience within the sea ’s mesopelagic geographical zone . Also known as the “ twilight zone ” , these waters at a astuteness of 200 to 1,000 meters ( 655 to 3,300 feet ) are often shrouded in nigh - complete wickedness – so most of their target do n’t actually see them coming .
The external ( a ) and interior ( b ) word structure of E. fissibarbis , a type of dragonfish . Schenll & Johnson / PLOS ONE
Far from being glad with just have a absurd jaw , one particular genus of barbeled dragonfish , Photostomias , even has a bioluminescent Hammond organ around its head , which allows it to glow in the dark .
[ H / T : Science News ]
