Fish of the Day 30 - I got that gulper in me (+ small announcement)

BEFORE I BEGIN THE ENTRY, I JUST WANTED TO LET PEOPLE KNOW I'VE DECIDED TO START MAKING THESE AGAIN, HOWEVER POSTS MAY NOT BE CONSTANT!! Life has been getting busier, so i'll only make these when I have the time and motivation! 

Today's fish of the day is certainly a crazy one... it's the GULPER EEL!

Oh what on earth is that mouth... thats how I feel when I yap irl

Gulper eel facts:

- The gulper eel isn't a huge fish, it only grows to around 3-6ft, or 1-2m. And it's huge mouth grows to be 1ft wide. It uses it almost like a scoop, eating whatever fits inside it. When it can't find prey, it satisfies it's hunger by eating marine snow (small particles of biological matter, such as plants, floating down into deeper waters. It's the particles you see in the image above.)

- Gulper eels also have an interesting feature... their bum glows! Sort of. The tip of their tails glow due to bioluminescence, and it helps attract prey similarly to anglerfish. They're sort of like a reverse anglerfish!

- Apperently their brains are very small. Their brains are only the size of a pea, and they weigh around 0.0007 ounces. This is probably because they live in extreme depths and if they had larger organs, they would get crushed under pressure.

- Scientists have found that they sometimes fill their gaping mouths with water, inflating it like a balloon. I think they resemble more of an earbud than anything... you can watch a video of it happening here! It's so odd to watch!!

- When males reach sexual maturity, their teeth fall out and the organs they use to detect smell strengthen. From what I've read, their teeth fall out because they prioritize finding a mate, and for some reason having teeth weighs them down or something?? I'm not sure. But I do know their sense of smell is strengthened so that they can sniff out potential mates. That's WILD. 

- This is what the skull of a gulper eel looks like. If I was just shown this without any context, I'd think it were some sort of wing. Like a bat? 

Do you got that gulper eel in you? Personally, something about this weird eel intrigues me... I think I resonate with it. It loves to eat, it gets to excited to have a date that it's teeth fall out, it loves to flash it's bum at people... it's a fun fish!