The NGO Condrik Tenerife, specialized in the research and conservation of sharks and rays in the Canary Islands, has released a video of an unusual sighting of an adult black devil or anglerfish in broad daylight, almost on the surface and two kilometers from the coast of Tenerife, an extremely rare event for this species.
The sighting occurred on January 26 near the coast of Playa San Juan, in the Tenerife municipality of Guía de Isora and, to date, according to marine biologist Laia Valor, only larvae or dead adult specimens have been sighted so close to the surface.
"We saw it when we were already returning to port. We passed by it and I saw something black that didn't look like plastic or anything, it seemed strange to me. After seeing it, we spent a couple of hours with it. It was damaged and not in good condition, it only lasted alive for a few hours," details Valor, who has pointed out that the reasons why the specimen was so close to the surface could be "thousands."
"We are not clear about anything, but it is not normal. It is a very specific and sporadic sighting. We cannot say that it never happens, although if these sightings happened on a larger scale, they would occur more often, but we can say that it could be the first time it has been recorded like this," she adds.
After verifying that the fish had died, explains the biologist, they took it as if it were a sample in a raft with water and transferred it to the Museum of Nature and Archeology (Muna) of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
"It could be the first recorded sighting in the world of an adult black devil or anglerfish, Melanocetus johnsonii, alive, in broad daylight and on the surface. A legendary fish that few people will have had the privilege of observing alive," Condrik Tenerife stated in an Instagram post.
The expedition of this entity was conducting a research campaign on pelagic sharks when they came across the anglerfish.
"It is a true predator of the depths that inhabits the seabed between 200 and 2,000 meters deep and uses its dorsal appendage full of bioluminescent symbiotic bacteria as bait to attract its prey, in the same way as in the popular film 'Finding Nemo'," they add.
Regarding the reasons that may have led the animal to swim in such shallow waters, the NGO points out that it is "uncertain" and that it could be due either to some disease, to ascending currents or perhaps to the escape from a predator.
