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Deep ocean horror: the nightmarish telescope fish with demon-like eyes [1]

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Date: 2025-09-02

Deep in the ocean's twilight zone dwells the nightmarish telescopefish. This sea creature looks more like a demon from a horror film than anything else I've seen in nature. It has a Labubu-esque mouth and telescopic eyes that hunt in the darkness, and resemble pearls devoid of pupils.

Their unique eyes allow them to detect even the faintest bioluminescence of potential prey. The telescopefish's bizarre appearance doesn't end with its eyes. Its lower tailfin extends into a ribbon-like structure that can make up over half its body length. Their highly extensible jaws and expandable stomachs allow them to swallow prey larger than themselves, an adaptation for survival in the nutrient-poor deep sea.

This video shows the bizarre relationship between a mother telescope fish and her child. The child remains fused to his mother in the early days of its life, like a parasitic twin. Eventually, the baby bites itself free and swims away. Please, universe, never allow me to be reincarnated into a telescope fish.

See also: Watch the up-close process of a deeply skilled fish taxidermist

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[1] Url: https://boingboing.net/2025/09/02/deep-ocean-horror-the-nightmarish-telescope-fish-with-demon-like-eyes.html

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