Black "demon fish" caught on camera for the first time ever: what the real-life Xenomorph looks like

Scientists spotted a spooky creature while exploring the waters off the coast of Tenerife in the Atlantic Ocean. Turned out it was a black "demon fish" that was captured on camera for the first time when it emerged from the depths.

David Jara Boguna, a marine photographer and scientist from Condrik Tenerife, shared the footage and the story of his incredible encounter with the amazing creature on Instagram, calling the discovery "surprising." He added that few people will have the honor of seeing this "legendary fish" alive, DailyMail reports.

According to scientists, the humpback anglerfish (Melanocetus johnsonii) is a species of black seadevil in the family of Melanocetidae, which means "black whale" in Greek. It is capable of eating prey even larger than itself.

The video shows a dark-colored fish swimming upward with mouth open and teeth sticking out like fangs. No wonder this fish is called the "black demon," experts say.

"This could be the first recorded sighting in the world of a black demon or adult abyssal (Melanocetus johnsonii) alive, in broad daylight and on the surface!!," said David Jara.

"It is a true predator of the depths, which lives in the seabed between 200 and 2000m deep. [It] uses its dorsal appendix filled with symbiotic bioluminescent bacteria as bait to lure its prey, in the same way as in the popular movie Finding Nemo," Boguna wrote on Instagram.

How and why the fish ended up on the surface remains unclear. "'The motive for its presence in such shallow waters is uncertain. Maybe due to illness, an upstream, fleeing a predator, etc," the scientist added.

The video aroused great interest on social media. So far, the clip has been shared more than 7,000 times on Instagram and has garnered more than 458,000 likes.

In the comments, netizens began to discuss that when such creatures emerge from the depths, it may be a cause for concern.

However, other commenters were quick to turn it into a joke and wrote, "That is definitely a face only a mother could love!!".

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