The odd-looking spookfish is the only vertebrate known to have mirrors in its eyes, according to a new report. The mirrors gather and focus light better than lenses, which spookfish also have, and appear to be an adaptation for living in the murky depths of the Pacific Ocean. Scientists discovered the spookfish's unusual anatomy after examining the first specimen of the fish ever caught alive. Researcher Ron Douglas found the rare specimen last year
in the deep waters between Samoa and New Zealand, but no one on the research boat knew what it was. "It caught my attention because it looked like it had four eyes, and vertebrates with four eyes don't exist," says Douglas [New Scientist].
In fact, the spookfish only has two. Spookfish, also known as barreleyes, are a family of deep-sea fish with tubular eyes, rather like telescopes, that point upwards to capture the minimal sunlight that ...
