Silver Hatchet Fish

It  is thought that some fishes of the depths make frequent excursions to the surface of the water at night, going down again at daybreak to the depths, which they light up feebly with their light-producing organs, or photophores. And so fishermen will sometimes find, in a squirming mass of silvery sardines, mackerel or other edible fish, some strange creature. They will throw it back or, if they are at the dock, give it to the waiting cats, so it is never identified.

Sometimes, however, fishermen get the idea of bringing the odd fish they have chanced upon to marine biological institutes. This was what happened with a little abyssal fish found—and identified for the first time—some thirty years ago off the coast of Sicily. This tiny animal, hardly two inches long, is very broad in front and very narrow in back. On the whole it looks like a hatchet, with a sort of small handle. Because of its brilliant silvery color, it was given the Latin name of Argyropelecus, or silver hatchet. As in the case with most abyssal fishes, its mouth is enormous compared with its teeth. Its huge telescopic eyes look upwards.

Its anatomical features meet the requirements of the very special conditions of the fishes’ environment: the tremendous pressure of the water, the darkness, the problems of its search for food, the cold temperature of the water. The silver hatchet has been caught in the Atlantic Ocean and in the Mediterranean Sea. It swims at various depths, from about ten thousand feet to about three hundred feet, probably in pursuit of its prey. It would not come to the surface unless caught in ascending currents that it could not resist. There near the surface await the fishermen’s nets, from which museums of natural history sometimes can enrich their collections with a silver hatchet.

Silver Hatchet Fish Pictures