[kellyhound]

The deep-sea telescopefish (genus Gigantura), is an extraordinary, alien-like predator that lives in near-total darkness thousands of feet beneath the ocean surface.

It belongs to the family Giganturidae. There are only two known species, namely the Gigantura chuni and Gigantura indica.

Found circumglobally in deep tropical and subtropical waters, typically swimming in the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones at depths between 1,640 to 9,840 feet.

It is named for its massive, forward-pointing tubular eyes that mimic binoculars. These specialized lenses are highly adapted to absorb the faintest traces of downward-filtering sunlight or the weak bioluminescent glows of deep-sea prey.

Equipped with highly extensile jaws and needle-like, recurved teeth. They practice raptorial feeding, unhinging their mouth and expanding their distensible stomach to swallow prey up to twice their own body size.

They are relatively small, growing up to 10 inches in length. They feature scaleless, highly reflective silvery skins, lack ventral fins, and have a deeply extended, ribbon-like lower tail fin.

To optimize their narrow binocular vision, telescopefish are known to drift completely vertically in the water column with their heads pointed straight up toward the surface. This unique orientation allows them to perfectly map out and strike at the distinct silhouettes of unsuspecting prey swimming above them.

It also undergoes one of the most extreme physical transformations of any fish. The change is so radical that for over 80 years, scientists classified the larvae and adults as two completely different families.

During a brief developmental window, the fish drastically models its skeleton. It dissolves its upper jaw bone (premaxilla), shifting its massive teeth onto its palate to swallow prey twice its size, while its eyes migrate forward into binocular tubes.

Simultaneously, it leaves the sunlit surface to spend the rest of its life in the midnight zone.