Bathylychnops exilis

Javelin spookfish
Javelin spookfish
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Osmeriformes
Family: Opisthoproctidae
Genus: Bathylychnops
Species: B. exilis
Binomial name
Bathylychnops exilis [1]

Bathylychnops exilis (sometimes called the javelin spookfish[2]) is a translucent, mesopelagic fish[2] and the only known species in the genus Bathylychnops. It is found in the northern Pacific.[2]

The species is notable for unusual protuberances that grow from its eyes, which each have "a well developed lens"[3] and a retina, and which have led to the species being called a "four-eyed" fish.[3] It has been suggested that the purpose of these extra eyes is detection of threats from below, since these eyes point downwards.[4]

The fish was first described in 1958 by Daniel Cohen.[5]

References

  1. ^ Integrated Taxonomic Information System: Bathylychnops exilis
  2. ^ a b c Schwab IR (2001). Cover illustration: An eye for an eye. British Journal of Ophthalmology 85.
  3. ^ a b Pearcy WG, Meyer SL, Munk O (1965). A 'Four-Eyed' Fish from the Deep-Sea: Bathylychnops exilis Cohen, 1958. Nature 207, 1260-1262.
  4. ^ Dawkins R (2009). The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. London: Bantam Press.
  5. ^ Cohen DM (1958). Bathylychnops exilis, a new genus and species of argentinoid fish from the North Pacific. Stanford Ichthyological Bulletin 7, 47-52.