New and Exciting Fish

I have been lucky that on this trip I saw quite a few new species, some of which I really wanted to see. The biggest and best are the moonfish (Lampris immaculatus) . . .

. . . and the porbeagle (Lamna nasus) . . .

The species I’ve seen most of is the southern blue whiting (Micromesistius australis australis) as it was the species we were targeting.

I’ve been getting quite a lot of jellyfish, including this one. It’s about the size of a dinner plate!

I thought I’d end with a couple of fish which you can tell are definitely deep-sea species. This is the southern driftfish (Icichthys australis). The white patches on the body are just where the scales have been lost during the time in the net.

Finally, this is Cataetyx messieri. It’s another fish which isn’t exactly pretty but when it’s pitch black looks aren’t really important!

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the animals of the deep (well, 250 – 350 m)!

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