Weird and Wonderful: The fangtooth fish has a face only a mother could love

The fangtooth, or ogrefish, has extra-long, sharp teeth and a face only a mother could love. This fierce-looking fish actually gets no bigger than the average adult human hand. The fangtooth is found in meso- and bathy-pelagic waters worldwide. Dark skin and scales provide camouflage in these dim ocean depths, assisting them with catching prey (fish, shrimp, and squid) and avoiding hungry predators (tuna and marlin). Their prominent lateral line system detects water movement and compensates for poor eyesight and low light conditions. The fangtooth has been spotted just eight times in the past 30 years of MBARI ROV expeditions.

Common name: Fangtooth or ogrefish
Scientific name: Anoplogaster cornuta
Reported depth range: 500 meters (1,650 feet) to 2,100 meters (7,000 feet)
Size: up to 18 centimeters (7 inches)

Editor: Ted Blanco
Writer: Kyra Schlining
Production team: Kyra Schlining, Susan von Thun, Nancy Jacobsen Stout

See more amazing deep-sea animals on MBARI’s Image Gallery:
https://www.mbari.org/products/image-gallery/