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Kedong Yin
A bizarre-moving deep-sea fish has been discovered – and it walks backwards along the ocean floor.
It’s a discovery being hailed by experts as a “paradigm-shifting revelation”, as a deep-sea fish called a searobin has been found to not only trot along the ocean floor, but to do so sideways and backwards.
The searobin is a “fish-prawn” hybrid that can grow up to 10 inches long. And, with the help of specially-adapted pectoral fins, it is able to actually walk along the surface of the ocean floor. The only other fish with the known ability to walk along the sea floor do so forwards, but the searobin bucks that trend with its ability to move sideways and backwards.
Its bizarre movements were captured in footage from the South China Sea, as experts explained that its jerky movements resemble those of a shrimp, while it uses its tail to swim.
“[Our] study delivers a paradigm-shifting revelation,” said Han Tian, the lead author of the research published in Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Research, in a statement.
Kedong Yin
“The deep-sea fish Scalicus engyceros, a representative of fishes characterised by highly specialised free pectoral-fin rays, is among the few fish species known to walk. This extraordinary creature boasts a striking shrimp-fish hybrid body appearance, earning it the nickname ‘fish-prawn hybrid’ in US local media,” Tian added.
Researchers from the study utilised deep-sea equipment to take footage of creatures. They observed the searobins and were able to confirm the speculation that they use their free pectoral-fin rays to walk.
They also observed some of its other unusual characteristics.
“Another unique trait is its outward-extending barbels, which looks like a farmer’s rake. The structure is awkward for moving around, but it allows the searobin to sense and probe potential prey in seafloor sediment or even dig into the surface sediment for efficient foraging. Meanwhile, the creature retains the pectoral fins, which have evolved into flat, round plates, improving balance during walking and swimming, while its shrimp-like fin rays and tail enable explosive, jerky shrimp-style leaps when threatened,” said Tian.
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