Fish Born with Transparent Head

A new fish has been found, called the Macropinna microstoma. It has tubular eyes and a see-through head. Normally referred to as the 'barreleye' fish, this species is actually able to rotate its eyes within its own skull. The fish is able to see what is happening to the sides, and above it. The fish has been studied at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, and investigators Bruce Robison and Kim Reisenbichler were able to catch the barreleye's eye movements on video tape.

The fish has a very tiny mouth, but a huge appetite. It's able to ingest, and digest pieces of jellyfish, and a built-in shield protects it's eyes while it feeds off of it's victim. The barreleye lives deep under water, just below the level of light penetration, so it can use its eyes to scan the water above.

There are two beady green dots that would appear to be the eyes of the fish, but they are actually organs used for smelling. There are grayish colored eyes in the shapes of barrels (hence the name barreleye fish), that sit just below two green domes inside the skull of the fish. Since the head is transparent, it can easily look through it's own head and see what's directly above it. It's eyes can easily pivot, sort of like someone using a pair of binoculars. In additional to the macropinna micro stoma's amazing facial characteristics, the fish also has a very unique pair of fins, which allow the fish to remain very still and motionless in the water. There are two small clear membranes that cover the smelling organs, and as this fish lives deep below water, if these membranes were to break, the fish eyes would immediately be exposed to sea pressure, killing the fish.

Although the fish appears to be rather large in photos, in actuality it is only a few inches long. As it lives just below the line of light penetration, and is predominantly dark in color, it remains almost invisible to the other species around it. With this characteristic, it can easily sneak up on prey and attack. The barreleye fish lives at roughly 2,000 to 2,600 feet below sea level (roughly 600 to 800 meters).

The Macropinna Microstoma has a number of names. It can be called the barreleye fish, the portugese water dog, the transparent fish, or the see through fish.

For photos and more information, visit:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/02/photogalleries/fish-transparent-head-barreleye-picture/photo2.html