All You Need to Know About the Lantern Fish
Lantern Fish - The Name says it all. It is derived from the organ called Photophores that helps to radiate light in the ocean in order to attract the other fishes that they prey on and also use during mating season. These fishes are well-known for their vertical migrations during the day. They spend the day deep beneath the ocean's surface but come near to the surface at night in quest of food. They do this to keep track of plankton movements, which are their principal food source. These migrations are supposed to aid the lanternfish in avoiding predators. They evade many of the large predators in the shallower oceans by retreating to the deep sea during the day. Lanternfish are a major food source for a variety of ocean creatures, including whales, dolphins, tuna, sharks, seals, squid, and marine birds, at shallower depths.
Taxonomical Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Myctophiformes
Family: Myctophidae
Scientific Name: Myctophum punctatum
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Characteristics of Lantern Fish
Lantern Fish Size:
Lantern Fishes have big mouths and eyes, as well as multiple light organs on the head, underbelly, and tail base. The placement of these lights may aid in identifying species or sex. The pattern is also useful for recognising the 240 or so species present.
Lanternfish typically grow to a length of up to 6 inches (15 centimetres), although some species can range in size from 1 to 12 inches (2 to 30 centimetres) in length. They have a very slender, compressed body covered with silvery scales and relatively small fins. They also have a large, round head and large eyes. Large eyes are common in deep-sea creatures as they help to collect as much light as possible in the eternally dark waters. The body of the lanternfish is covered with light-producing photophores. The arrangement of these lights varies by species. In some species, it also varies by gender. There is only one species of lanternfish that is not capable of producing light. It is also referred to as ‘fish with light on head’.
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Why is it Called Lantern Fish?
The Lantern Fish is a deep-water fish named for its capacity to radiate light. They have photophores, which are microscopic organs to emit light. Bioluminescence is a chemical process in which a chemical reaction inside the photophore produces light. It's the same method that fireflies use, and it's quite similar to the chemical reaction that happens within the green light sticks that kids use for Halloween. The photophores are found on the head, underbelly, and tail of the fish. These light organs are thought to be utilised to attract other small fish, which the lanternfish feeds on. They could potentially be utilised to communicate with other lanternfish during mating season.
Types of Lantern Fish
There are about 200 different species of lanternfish found in the deep water. They are regarded to be among the most prevalent deep-sea organisms. Lanternfish make up as much as 65 percent of the deep marine biomass, according to deep-sea trawl sampling. They are one of the most extensively distributed and diversified of all vertebrate species, and it is thought that they serve as prey for larger organisms.
Some of the Lantern Fish’s Genera Given in the Following:
Habitat and Geography
Lanternfish can be found at depths ranging from 1,200 to 3,000 feet in all of the world's oceans (about 360 to 900 meters). The majority of species prefer to stay along the coast, where they can be seen in huge groups near the continental slopes. These fishes are commonly found in the Northern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
Behaviour
As these are deep-sea fish, different species of Lantern fish have been observed to segregate themselves based on depth. Depending on the species, they will form dense layers. This behaviour is thought to aid in the reduction of interspecies competition. These strata are so dense and contain so many fish that they may be seen on sonar. They can reflect sonar beams and create the illusion of a false ocean bottom, which is referred to as a deep-scattering layer. For many years, oceanographers were really baffled by this phenomenon until the source was discovered.
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Food Habits
Lanternfish are well-known for their vertical migrations during the day. They spend the day deep beneath the ocean's surface but come near to the surface at night in quest of food. They do this to keep track of plankton movements, which are their principal food source. These migrations are supposed to aid the lanternfish in avoiding predators.
Reproduction
Lanternfish are pelagic spawners that do not guard their eggs. This means that the females release their eggs in a group into the water column, where the males fertilise them externally. Each female fish releases between 100 and 2,000 eggs, depending on the species. In most species, spawning is thought to take place all year. The early larvae have a tiny number of photophores for creating light once the eggs hatch. They are left on their own until they reach adulthood. Lanternfish larvae are so abundant that they are considered to account for roughly half of all fish larvae discovered in the ocean.
Predators
Lantern fishes evade many of the large predators in the shallower oceans by retreating to the deep sea during the day. Lanternfish are a major food source for a variety of creatures, including whales, dolphins, salmon, tuna, sharks, seals, squid, and marine birds such as penguins, at shallower depths.
Did you know?
Light is essential to the survival of all oceans. It offers one of the essential necessities for photosynthesis and encourages the establishment of a food chain at its most basic level. Some fish species such as Lantern fish that live in the deepest parts of the oceans rely on light to survive.
The lantern, also known as Symbolophorus Bernardi, is a deep-water fish with the ability to emit light. They have even built their own artificial light sources. Photophores are small organs that can switch on and off the light.
Lantern fish, according to new research findings, eat a lot of plastic waste and debris in the ocean. The stomachs of lanternfish, which are the primary bottom-dwelling fish in the gyres, or spinning ocean currents, where much of the plastic is found, are where the majority of it ends up.
Many of the plastic parts are erroneously ingested since they are the same size as the fish's meal. Some of the fish had as many as 83 chunks, according to Carlos Duarte, director of the University of Western Australia Oceans Institute.
Summary: At a Glance
Common Name: Lantern fishes
Discovered By: T. N. Gill in 1893
Scientific Name: Varies: group is represented by more than 245 species
Lantern Fish Size: Range from about 2 to 30 cm (0.8 to 11.8 inches) in length, with most being under 15 cm (5.9 in).
Habitat: Deep sea
Food Habit: Eats Zooplankton while migrating to the surface waters at night to feed
Predators: Whales, dolphins, salmon, penguins, jumbo squid, tuna, sharks, other deep-sea fish
Bioluminescence: Yes: on its belly sides and face, depending on species.
Conservation Status: Not endangered
FAQs on Lantern Fish
1. What is the Name of the Fish With Light on Head?
Answer: It is a Lantern fish. Lanternfish have microscopic organs called photophores that conduct a chemical process that produces bioluminescent light. Photophores, which produce light, line up under the fish's belly, allowing it to mix in with light-speckled water and fool predators approaching from below.
2. How Many Species of Lantern Fish are There?
Answer: The lanternfish, or Myctophidae, is one of the most abundant and diverse families of mesopelagic fishes in the world's oceans, with at least 250 species (33 genera, two subfamilies).
3. Are Lantern Fish Extinct?
Ans: No, these fish do not fall under the extinct category.
4. What is the Significance of the Presence of Bioluminescence in the Lantern Fish’s Body?
Answer: Lanternfishes may utilise bioluminescence for a variety of purposes, including detecting prey and predators, camouflaging themselves, and inter-and intraspecific communication. They have two types of photophores, or bioluminescent organs, that light up on their own. There are ventral and ventrolateral photophores, also known as primary photophores, that are arrayed in a species-specific pattern, as well as luminous organs and tissue patches of various sizes and shapes that are situated on the caudal peduncle, head, and body.
As the pattern of the primary photophores is species-specific, it has been believed by researchers that lanternfishes use them for species recognition. However, this has not been proven, and it is still unknown if they can resolve single photoreceptors or respond to their patterns differently. Luminous organs (head and caudal) are generally sexually dimorphic and appear to emit only transient light flashes. They're supposed to help species communicate, escape predators (caudal organs), and/or illuminate potential prey (head bright organs).
5. What is the ‘False Bottom of the Ocean’?
Answer: When scientists in the 1950s sought to use newly developed sonar technology to determine ocean depth, the whole sea bottom appeared to rise at night all around the world. Researchers finally recognised that the “false bottom” was created by sonar reflecting off millions of small, gas-filled fish — mostly lanternfish — during their nightly migration, after years of misunderstanding. This discovery also provided scientists with valuable information on the extraordinary quantity and biodiversity of the ocean twilight zone.
