Hi everyone! I'm still at sea and am having a great time. I met some new friends today that are just like me - FLAT!! You may know these guys as flounders. These flatfishes are really young and still have one eye on each side of their head. As they get bigger, one of their eyes will rotate to the other side before they settle on the seafloor. Since they live on the seafloor and bury themselves in the sand for camouflage, it is necessary for both of their eyes to be on one side of their head so that they can still see.
We have also collected many other types of fish that live really deep in the ocean where there is no light! The only light that exists there is made by the organisms that live there. This angler fish has a modified fin ray that has a bioluminescent light at the end of it which most people call a lure. They call it that because they think that the angler fish uses the light to lure in their prey. The other pictures show several other types of fish that we commonly collect.
Angler fish Ceratias uranoscopus
Dolicholagus longirostris, Chauliodus sloani, Sigmops elongatus | Sigmops elongatus (black/silver fish), Dysalotus alcocki
Nannobrachium lineatum
We have been very busy out here working around the clock to sample both day and night. I will post more pictures and give you an update tomorrow on our progress!
Flat Stanley