Name: Flashlight fish
Scientific Name: Anomalops katoptron
Family: Anomalopidae
Group: Bony fish
Class: Fish
Size: 0-10 cm.
Just below its eye, the flashlight fish has an organ made of symbiotic bacteria, which produce light. This organ can flash up to 50 times a minute. The light is used to communicate, to see, to confuse predators and to attract prey. When threatened, the fish can turn off the light, covering it with a type of eyelid. The flashlight fish is observed on nights with a new moon on the periphery of reefs, in areas with caves. In some regions it can rise to the surface but rarely abandons the restricted area where it lives. During the day it always stays below depths of 100 m.
Photo by:
www.kazkian.com
Oceanário Location
Bioluminescent fish
