DUBAI 26 July 2018: The ocean is a beautiful and terrifying place that covers 71% of the Earths surface and it’s hiding a lot more than we could ever know.
The Atlantic midshipman fish is a typical burrowing or benthic fish-organisms that live on the ocean floor- that bury’s themselves into the sand/mud to catch unsuspecting prey. They are a member of the Porichthys family of toad fishes and are characterized by four lateral lines and have having photophores-which is a glandular organ that appears as luminious spots on various marine animals-which they use to attract prey (and after which they are named).
In this video we can see a midshipman fish laying in wait for prey as a sea snail makes it’s way across the sand. The snail is not the intended target, however, and is simply a casualty of the midshipman preying on a larger barracuda as it swims by.
The video is a rare example of a (successful) predation attempt in the deap sea.
Video posted by oceanexplorergov on YouTube