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Pacific Barreleye Fish — printable fact sheet
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Pacific Barreleye Fish
Macropinna microstoma
The barreleye has a transparent head. Its skull is capped by a dome of clear tissue filled with fluid, and inside that dome, entirely visible from outside, sit the eyes — two glowing green tubes, staring straight up through the top of the animal's own head. It lives in the twili…
Did you know?
- The green lenses in the barreleye fish's eyes filter out sunlight from above, making it easier to spot the bioluminescent prey below.
- Its head is a transparent, fluid-filled dome, and you can see its eyes inside it from the outside. The eyes are tubes that point straight up through the top of its own head, to catch silhouettes against the faint light above. They can rotate forward, so it can watch its own mouth take the prey it just spotted. The two dark spots on its face that look like eyes are actually its nostrils.
What I learned
Draw the pacific barreleye fish
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