Creatures that live deep beneath the ocean’s surface are, for some evolutionary reason, terrifying by design. Most deep sea animals are blind, oddly proportioned and have talents that make us shiver in our boots. For instance, there’s a small fish that is able to kill and eat another creature 10 times its size. It sounds like something from a cheesy horror movie, but this fish is very real.
This creepy creature is called the Black Swallower. With its huge stomach, this little fella is able catch and eat prey much bigger than itself, and can devour entire fish whole.
Say hello to the scary black swallower.
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This little, unassuming fish is renowned for its ability to eat fish several times its size. In some circles, it’s known as “the great swallower.”
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The swallower is a deep sea dwelling fish, and only grows to a maximum size of 10 inches. However, just because it’s a small fish doesn’t mean it’s not fearsome in its own right.
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Swallowers are known to eat prey that are twice their size, and up to 10 times their own mass.
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Some scientists suspect that black swallowers eat their prey starting with the tail and slowly “walk” their way to the other end. They do this until the entire fish is inside their massive, distended stomach.
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Sometimes the black swallower’s ability to eat such a huge meal backfires. Most of the known specimens of black swallower were found dead near the ocean surface. This is because they ate a meal that was too big. The big meal decomposes in their stomach faster than it could be digested. The gases released from the decomposing meal forces the swallower to the surface, where it then dies.
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Via: Imgur
I’m happy that this fish only lives in the deep ocean and far, far away from any beach I’ll ever visit. I feel sorry for its prey. Being slowly pulled, inch by inch, into the stomach of a predator sounds terrifying.
Don’t judge a book by its cover…or a fish by its size.
