Some of the deepest parts of our planet are a home to rare species like the Viperfish. Earlier we did a
post about other species that live at great depths in the Marianas Trench, you should check it out also!
Due to its ellusive lifestyle, scientists have been unable to record exact figures of this species. It is estimated that the
Viperfish
can live anywhere between 30 and 40 years in the wild. A specimen in
captivity has a significally shorter lifespan – only several hours.
Time of day greatly effects the depth these species stay at. In the daytime, Viperfish prefer to be at lower depths
(up to 9,000 ft) to avoid any direct sunlight. During the night, Viperfish have been spotted by scientists in shallow waters.
A
Viperfish varies in colour; so far scientists have
found green, silver and black coloured fish. A very distinctive feature
of this fish is its massive, fang–like teeth that it uses for
immobilizing prey. They are so large that they actually go out of the
mouth and are always visible.
The first vertebra behind the head of the
Viperfish
is known to absorb the shock of its attacks, which are mainly targeted
against Dragonfish and other small creatures. They are able to undergo
long periods with scarce or no food.
Because of the extreme depths at which they are found, very little is
known about the reproductive habits of the Viperfish. A very fact to
take note of is that human activity on this planet has very little
impact on these species due to their separation from us.
