It seems like every time humans venture to the ocean's depths, they return with a terrifying new type of fish; and the recently discovered Lasiognathus regan is certainly no exception. CNN describes the new species of anglerfish as looking like a "hunchbacked, rotting, old shoe with spikes, a scraggly mustache and a big mouth with bad teeth." Far be it for us to try to top that description, but here we go anyway: It looks like a turkey leg that decided to bite you back after watching Mad Max: Fury Road and your own nightmares for inspiration. Like other anglerfish, this new species uses a long growth on the top of its head to lure other fish toward its jaws.
Three females were discovered by researchers in the Gulf of Mexico at depths between 3,280 and 4,921 feet in what is known as the midnight zone because of its lack of light. Male anglerfish are apparently harder to come by as they are smaller than females (the females caught were less than 4 inches long) and bite their way into the female's side to live as a parasitic growth. According to the Washington Post, the three specimens, which are more elongated and less round than other anglerfish, will now live at the University of Washington, where they can spend their days horrifying graduate students. They certainly won't be the last bizarre fish to come from the depths, as the Post reports humans have explored less than 2% of the ocean floor. (More science stories.)
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