Post #14044

White-eyed spiny shark: Climbed into impenetrable darkness. The abyss's top predator Who lives on the VERY bottom of the ocean? Actually, there are a lot of people living there, and they are quite unattractive in appearance. Among all this biodiversity, to come across something similar to a fish in its classical sense is already lucky. But the white-eyed spiny shark is not afraid of the horrors of deep water. On the contrary: the chthonic inhabitants of darkness themselves tremble in fear of her. Our heroine is the main predator of the monsters of the impenetrable darkness of the ocean. The white-eyed spiny shark looks surprisingly “normal” for an inhabitant of the deep. At least she looks like a fish. But it’s also difficult to call her a standard representative of the toothy brethren. Why are sharks on the surface afraid? For powerful jaws and sharp teeth! Our heroine's mouth is not at all scary. There are many teeth - 100 on the lower and upper jaws. But they are all ridiculously tiny. The size of the fish itself is also not very intimidating - it grows up to 100-120 cm. Not too impressive for a super predator. But this is not surprising: the beast lives at a depth of 2-3 kilometers. This species of shark is the deepest in the world! Kilometers from the surface there is no light, good food, or currents. Eternal cold, pressure and stuffiness reign here. So also the fearful neighbors. However, the white-eye spiny shark is the most common species of deep-sea shark today. It is found in waters from Greenland to Australia. How did she manage to establish a tough dictatorship of power, having such meager weapons of intimidation in her arsenal? Eyepieces are her main weapon. In impenetrable darkness, the one who sees wins. Huge eyes sparkle in the light, like a Christmas tree: white, green, yellow, blue. The tapetum, the light-receiving membrane of the retina, is to blame for this. The tapetum helps to snatch out the slightest rays of light from the darkness. It is convenient when most of the inhabitants of the depths communicate with each other using bioluminescence. White-eyed sharks feed on everything that the ocean sends: fish, crustaceans, mollusks, carrion - you don’t have to choose, you grab everything you find. The hunting style of the main predator of the darkness is radically different from its relatives from the surface. The white-eyed shark is not looking for prey. She waits for the food to find her. The fish spends most of its time almost motionless - the average speed of movement is 0.27 km/h. This way she saves precious calories. Life at such depths does not spoil you from birth. The baby sharks have not even decided how they are born. From eggs? Straight from the womb? What about hatching from an egg inside the mother? This is called ovoviviparity. The embryos develop inside the female until they hatch from the eggs. Up to 30 sharks appear at a time. White-eye sharks reproduce slowly. Predators will be able to k