The barreleye has long been recognized as an able swimmer and can move over sand, mud, and gravel beds to forage for invertebrates. It not only relies on sight but also has excellent hearing which helps them detect approaching predators such as birds, sharks, or other benthic creatures (like crabs).
Barreleye Fish
Barreleye Fish is amazing. It lives in the ocean and can change colors to blend in with its environment. They do this by altering the color of their skin, which changes based on what light source is around them. When it’s dark, they glow yellow; when it’s bright out at night, they become translucent and greenish-blue; and during bright sunlight conditions (like dawn or noon), they’ll turn red!
Appearance
It has a tubular body, large eyes and fins, and a transparent head and mouth. The dorsal fin on this fish’s back has a black spot in the middle that looks like an eye (hence its name). The anal fin also has a dark spot on it which could make you think of another animal—a bat!
Habitat
Barreleye fish live in the deep ocean, where they reside in the mesopelagic zone. This means that they spend most of their time at depths between 600 and 3,000 feet. While this may seem like an odd place to hang out, it’s actually not uncommon for organisms living there—like bioluminescent jellyfish!
Barreleye fish are actually bioluminescent just like Angler fish—meaning they generate light from within themselves using chemical reactions (think fireflies and glow sticks). Typically found in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, these creatures’ bodies contain specialized photophores that allow them to emit flashes when disturbed or frightened (think some sort of eel).
Diet
Barreleye fish are herbivores, but they also eat small fish. They’re carnivorous and have special organs called barbels on their mouths that help them catch prey.
Threats
Threats to the barreleye fish include overfishing, pollution, and climate change.
The barreleye fish is a deepwater fish, so it is more vulnerable to climate change than other fish. The warming of our oceans has already had an effect on this species’ ability to hunt prey in deeper waters. Pollution can also affect its ability to hunt by damaging its sense of smell or impeding its movement through water currents that carry prey toward them (Hutchins et al., 2013).
The barreleye fish has some pretty amazing features!
The barreleye fish has some pretty amazing features!
- Its eyes are on top of the head, and it can rotate independently.
- The eyes are covered by a transparent shield that allows them to see in all directions.
- The fish can rotate its eyes to look up and down, giving it an advantage over predators like sharks or stingrays who only have one eye per side of their body—the other one being used as a mouth for sucking prey into it!
The barreleye fish is a pretty cool little animal! They have some pretty amazing features that we never knew about before. The barreleye fish is a type of fish that lives in the ocean and can swim up to thousands of miles away from any other water source. It has adapted over time so it can live both in fresh or salt water and stay healthy regardless of where it goes.
