Facts of Marine Hatchet Fish

Introduction

In the category of sea fishes there are lot of families, which are very interesting to know about. The one is hatchetfish, which is divided into two unrelated groups of fishes; they are Marine hatchetfishes and Freshwater hatchetfishes. Marine fishes are small deep-sea fishes of Sternoptychidae family and Freshwater hatchetfishes belong to the group of ray-finned fishes, from the family of Gasteropelecidae.

The Common Hatchetfish

This Common Hatchetfish is very peaceful by their nature and is very timid. They need good top on the aquarium, as they like to jump and hang at the surface of the water. These are sold by the name of Silver fish, but the actual silver fish is the another species known as Thoracocharax secures.

Deep sea or Marine Hatchetfish

 

These deep sea hatchetfish (Argyropelecus) gets its name from its distinct hatchet-like shape of its body. They are a member of the family known as Sternoptychidae under the category of deep sea fishes. They are available in 45 individual species. They vary in size from (1.1 to ?) inches. They are found generally in tropical and subtropical waters of the Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. These hatchet fish are very different from freshwater hatchetfishes. So, one should not get confused with the freshwater hatchetfishes, which are seen in the home aquariums. They have a different shape of their body and thus they got their name form their body shape only. Their body is very thin, which resemble to the shape of the blade of the hatchet and thus they got their name as Hatchetfish.

Deep Sea or Marine Hatchefish facts

The largest hetchetfish in the category of deep sea fishes is Arygropelecus gigas. They are also known as the giant or large hatchetfish. These fishes grow up to a size of six inches in length. These species can be brown or dark green. They have large, tubular eyes pointing forward. This enables them to search for the food, which falls from above. These fishes live at the great depth and very little light is available at that depth. Therefore, their eyes have become very sensitive to light and as a result, they are very good at distinguishing shadows having even faint elimination from above. They can focus on the objects either close or far.

Hatchetfishes have an ability to create their own light through a process called bioluminescence. Moreover, the process of using this bioluminescent light is called "counter illumination". They have a light producing organ known as photophores. These photophores produce light with the help of a chemical reaction, which resembles to the light emitting characteristic of a fire fly. These light organ points down and thus they help to hide from their predators. They can even adjust the intensity of their underside light. These characteristic is found in other deep sea creatures too.

Very less is known about the mating habits of these mysterious species and also about the life cycle of these hatchetfishes. Most of the scientists and researchers believe that they have a very short life span of around a year. They feed mainly on plankton and tiny fishes. Moreover, for these they migrate to shallower waters at night and return at the dark blackness of deep ocean. Hatchetfishes are most probably found at depths ranging from (600 to 4500) feet below sea level.