By Stephanie Pappas, Live
Science Contributor | December 1, 2017 06:22am ET
From the outside, the pinecone
fish is a colorful yet fearsome beast. On the inside, it's downright spooky.
A new scan of a fish of the
genus Cleidopus, posted on
Twitter, looks like the re-creation of a monster from a sci-fi horror
flick. In actuality, the scan reveals the tough, spiked armor of this denizen
of the tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific.
Pinecone fish grow about 8 inches
(20 centimeters) long and come by their nickname honestly: Their scales are
yellow, crisscrossed with black markings in the shape of the scales of a
pinecone. (The fish are also known as "pineapple fish," another name
that references their striking markings.) Running down the fish's sides are
rows of small, nasty-looking spikes. Pinecone fish live at relatively deep
ocean depths, down to 650 feet (200 meters) or so, and their jaws are studded
with two bioluminescent
organs, called photophores. These give off a greenish glow that the fish
might use to attract prey. [See Photos of the
Freakiest-Looking Fish]
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