Scientists on a deep-sea expedition have discovered a fish that has no face. Well not exactly discovered, more rediscovered, as the fish had previously been discovered over a 100 years ago but was a presumed to be extinct. The strange fish has no eyes or nose just a mouth, that isn’t where fish mouths normally are but instead is on the underside of the fish.

This 15 inch long odd-looking fish was found at a depth of approximately 4km, at the Jervis Bay Commonwealth Marine Reserve off the Eastern Coast of Australia.

At a depth of 4000 meters there is no natural light so eyes aren’t needed for survival so many Deep Sea species are blind or even lack eyes.

The fish is called Typhlonus nasus which literally translates as the Blind Hake.

The discovery was made by researchers on board the ship RV Investigator, working on a collaborative deep sea project between Museums Victoria, and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

The scientific research team are methodically documenting document habitats between 2,500 to 4,000 meters (8,200 to 13,120 feet using cameras, nets, multi-beam sonar, and other high-tech research equipment.

“The abyss is the largest and deepest habitat on the planet, covering half the world’s oceans and one-third of Australia’s territory, but it remains the most unexplored environment on Earth,” says the project’s chief scientist, Dr Tim O’Hara. “We know that abyssal animals have been around for at least 40 million years, but until recently only a handful of samples had been collected from Australia’s abyss.”

The post The Deep Sea Fish Without a Face appeared first on The Freaky.