Female body length2 tenths m
1.2 tenthsHuman arm spans
2.9 hundredthsTow truck lengths
Typical deep-sea anglerfish species
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Anglerfish
The deep-sea predator that fishes with a built-in light/Deep Sea & Ocean Life
The deep-sea anglerfish is one of the ocean's most recognizable and unsettling creatures. Females grow to about 20 centimeters long and weigh around 50 grams, with a bioluminescent lure dangling from a modified dorsal spine to attract prey in the perpetual darkness below 1,000 meters. Males are dramatically smaller -- sometimes just a few centimeters -- and their life goal is to find a female, bite her, and fuse permanently to her body, becoming a parasitic appendage that provides sperm on demand. This is widely regarded as the worst dating strategy in the animal kingdom.
Measurements
Female mass5 hundredths kg
500 billionthsLocomotive weights
1.3 tenthsCans of soup
Typical depth1,000 m
2.9 hundredthsEnglish Channel crossings
1.2 trillionGlucose molecules
204Canoes
Found below 1,000 meters
Bioluminescence power1 thousandths W
50 millionthsHuman brains
2.6 nonillionthsThe Sun
533 billionthsHair dryers
Approximate light output of the lure