Somewhere nearly 2,000 feet below the surface off Central California, scientists just came face-to-face with a creature that looks less like a fish than something from outer space.
Meet the barreleye fish (Macropinna microstoma), a deep-sea oddity with a transparent, jelly-like head and two bright green, tubular eyes that appear to float inside its skull. It’s unsettling, fascinating, and—thanks to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)—now captured by the organization in 4K for the first time.
Check out the video below.
The footage was recorded roughly 55 miles offshore, at a depth of about 1,970 feet, during an expedition aboard MBARI’s research vessel David Packard. Scientists were using the remotely operated vehicle Doc Ricketts to study gelatinous sea life when research specialist Shannon Johnson spotted the fish as the robot was heading back toward the surface.
The team stopped immediately. Crew members crowded into the control room for a look at the bizarre visitor.
“Seeing a barreleye fish is a rare treat,” said MBARI senior scientist Steven Haddock.
No kidding. Across nearly four decades, roughly 7,000 underwater robot dives, and more than 41,000 hours of footage, MBARI has recorded just 11 sightings of this species. The last came in 2021.
As freaky as its appearance is, that see-through dome serves a purpose. In the ocean’s dim “twilight zone,” the barreleye points its eyes upward to detect prey silhouetted above, then rotates them forward to track food. The gelatinous shield also protects those delicate eyes as the fish snatches crustaceans from the stinging tentacles of siphonophores.
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Researchers watched the fish for about 20 minutes, experimenting with lighting and even recording 3D imagery. They left it in the ocean.
Haddock described the animal as such:
“It is such an amazing creature, which looks like it was created by an imaginative child. If you compare historical drawings of trawled specimens, the transparent dome surrounding their eyes has been stripped away. I didn’t even think they were illustrating the same species. So to see it alive with the dome of its ‘cockpit’ intact is a real privilege.”
The footage, released October 28, offers a striking reminder that even California’s famously explored coastline hides animals most people will never see alive.
And it gives us a peek into another world, right here on earth.
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