How some superblack fish disappear into the darkness of the deep sea
In the depths of the ocean, it might take more than a little light to illuminate some of the planet’s darkest fish. Some deep-sea fish have ultrablack skin capable of soaking up almost all light that hits it, making the fish nearly invisible. That camouflage is the result of a layer of densely packed pigment-containing structures just below the skin’s surface, researchers report online July 16 in Current Biology. The skin may hide the fish from predators, or prey, and might inspire new designs for ultrablack materials used in telescopes or fabric. Although little light reaches the deep sea, bioluminescent organisms can brighten the inky darkness. For creatures trying to swim undetected, living in these depths is “like trying to play hide and seek on a football field,” says Karen Osborn, a marine biologist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. “There’s nowhere to hide.” Unlike normal black fish,...