Nature & Environment

Remarkable alien-like deep-sea fish has a totally transparent head

By T.K. Randall
September 1, 2025

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) Imagine traveling through the darkest depths of the ocean around 2,000ft down where everything around you is pitch black. You shine your torch into the gloom and something catches your eye.

As it gets closer, you realize that this is no ordinary fish - you can see straight through its head!

Meet the barreleye fish (Macropinna microstoma) - a creature so bizarre that if there weren't pictures and videos of it you could almost believe that it was something completely made up.Sporting a pair of distinctive tubular eyes, the fish is able to detect faint bioluminescent signals from other deep-sea creatures and has a transparent, shield-shaped head filled with a clear fluid.

The barreleye fish is deceptively small - measuring a mere 6 inches in length - but it has perfectly adapted to this dark and hostile environment.

Little was known about it until 2009 when the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) managed to capture footage of a live specimen using a remote-operated deep-sea vehicle.

You can check out some of their footage below.


Source: India Defense Review

Tags: Ocean, Fish