Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Faceless Fish, Bizarre Creatures Found in Australia | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
Select Page
Media ID: 55375490
Caption:

Faceless fish, discovered on a voyage to Australia’s eastern abyss.
MUSEUMS VICTORIA/CSIRO/ASHER FLATT


Sydney, London- Two weeks into a world-first exploration of a deep-sea abyss, Australian scientists have uncovered all sorts of weird and wonderful creatures, including a “faceless fish” found for the first time since decades.

An international group of 40 scientists and researchers have left Tasmania on May 16 heading to Brisbane in Queensland, looking at the mysterious life and creatures living in deep oceans.

Diane Bray, an Australian scientist from Museums Victoria, said a ‘faceless’ fish has been dredged up around 4,000 metres below the surface in Jervis Bay earlier this week.

Bray told the German News Agency (DPA): “These are bizarre stuff and look like a tripod fish. They are soft and blobby-shaped.”

“They have no seen eyes or nose, and their mouth is under their surface,” she added.

The Australian scientist said it is the first time such a fish has been caught since 1873 when one was recorded by an old British ship near the coast of Papua New Guinea.

The faceless fish was among many mysterious and weird creatures the scientists collected from the ocean’s depths. The creatures include shrimps, worms, small crustacean, different types of red crabs, sea stars, and blind spiders.

Bray said they saw an awesome collection, including a fish with great surfaces, along with fish that can sit to face the water movement.

Scientists have deployed small nets and cameras in the water during their first research trip in this region, which will run till mid-June.