This is my collection of Silent predators in the water. Gulper Catfish is very aggressive predator. It can swallow a fish same size with its body rapidly and without alerting its prey.
Small fish eats big fish?
I very much like what a person called Peter Batson has to say about it, when asked to name his favourite deep-sea creature:
“For sheer optimism, it would have to be the black swallower, a small midwater fish of New Zealand’s deep oceans. This creature will swim up to a fish two or three times its size, open its toothy mouth, and swallow it whole. Its belly is like a balloon, and it expands to ridiculous proportions to accommodate prey that would, under different circumstances, have happily eaten the fish it was just swallowed by.”
Understanding Black Swallowers
The black swallower or Chiasmodon niger is considered part of the Chiasmodontidae family, also called swallowers or snaketooth fishes. This deep ocean fish lives approximately 2.7km below the ocean surface, in the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones. The good news is that you’re unlikely to run into Chiasmodon niger while out for a swim. This small fish is only 25cm long with an abundance of sharp teeth. Once it’s got a grip on something, it won’t let go! Unsurprisingly, the Black Swallower is an excellent swallower. The hooked front teeth of the black swallower don’t just grip; they can push inward, allowing the Swallower fish to swallow its prey literally! However, this snake tooth fish is picky and prefers to dine on bony fish.
Discovering The Black Swallower
The fact that these snake tooth fishes live 2.7km under the sea means you are generally not going to see them at the surface of the water. That’s good as they may try to get your arm or leg inside their stomach!
However, if the Black Swallower fish is too greedy, the prey fish will decompose inside their stomach before they’ve finished digesting it. In this instance, the gasses released by the target will overinflate the black swallower and cause the gut to burst, like a mini-underwater explosion.
The Black Swallower is Real!
You may mistake the fish for the Loch Ness monster, but it is a real fish and terrifying to any other sea creature at that depth. The black swallower attacks stealthily from behind, cleverly swallows the tail of its prey first, reducing their ability to escape. The genuinely terrifying fact is this fish can swallow fish ten times its size and twice its length!
Of course, if its eyes are too big for its belly, then it could end up dead on the surface of the water.
In the video below, you can see Black Swallower Fish – The Bizarre Deep Sea Creature That Can Eat Prey Up to 10-Times Its Size !!
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Video resource: WATOP
