Video shows Black seadevil fish, usually only found in lightless depths of the sea, making rare swim near ocean surface

In what may be the world’s first-ever recorded sighting, a black seadevil — anglerfish known for living thousands of feet beneath the ocean’s surface where the light no longer touches — was caught on camera swimming close to the ocean’s surface. The footage, captured in Spain’s Canary Islands, shows the female fish, whose Latin name translates to “black sea monster,” swimming through the light-filled ocean waters off the coast of Tenerife.

The discovery was made by NGO Condrik Tenerife and marine life photographer David Jara Boguñá while they were researching sharks. In a joint Instagram post, the organization and Boguñá said that the fish emerged from the abyss about 1.2 miles off the coast of Tenerife in Spain. 

Once they got closer, they realized it was a humpback anglerfish, a type of black seadevil anglerfish similar to what was portrayed in the Disney animated movie “Finding Nemo.” The genus in its Latin name for the species, Melanocetus johnsonii, translates to “black sea monster.” 

“It could be the first recorded sighting in the world of an adult black devil or abyssal anglerfish (Melanocetus johnsonii) alive, in broad daylight and on the surface,” Boguñá and Condrik Tenerife said in their post, adding that the record to date has seemingly only included larvae or dead adults, and the only live viewings have been recorded via submarine. “… A legendary fish that few people will have had the privilege of observing alive,” the post said.

The researchers described the fish as a “true predator of the depths,” a characterization which rings true. 

Black seadevils can live up to 15,000 feet under the ocean surface, with humpback anglerfish specifically known to live as deep as roughly 6,500 feet under the sea, according to the researchers. Such a depth is known as the Bathypelagic Zone, or the “midnight zone,” where animals live in constant darkness and the only light comes from bioluminescence. 

Female black seadevils, such as the one that was documented, will attract prey with a fishing rod-like structure on their head that has a tip that lights up in the dark. As demonstrated in “Finding Nemo,” prey are attracted to the light, and when they get close, the anglerfish can eat them. 

Female humpback anglerfish are the more powerful of the sexes in this species, growing far larger than their male counterparts. They can grow to be 7 inches and take on the more iconic look with a large head with pointed teeth and the bioluminescent lure, while the males only grow to be about an inch long and lack a lure, according to the Australian Museum. 

Researchers aren’t sure why this female found her way in such light-filled and shallow waters. They said it could be due to an illness, updraft or perhaps fleeing from a predator. But what they do know is that the observation was “surprising.” 

“[It] did not leave the crew indifferent and will be remembered forever,” they said.