Практика Shadowing: The Creepiest Fish Found at the Bottom of Our Oceans - Изучайте разговорный английский по видео

If you were to take a dive to the bottom of the ocean, you'd quickly realize that the friendly fish you're used to seeing near the surface were now anything but friendly.

Their teeth grow longer, their fins become.. legs?

And they start to consume things they really shouldn't be able to consume.

It's as if the ocean intentionally buried these creatures away into the deep to keep them away from literally anybody else.

And for some reason, in the deepest parts of the abyss, these deformed fish existing aren't just outliers, but have instead become the rule.

But why are these fish getting more and more terrifying the deeper you go?

And what advantages do they have to turning into these freaks?

Well, to know why these fish are so creepy, we have to realize that it's usually not just for show, and the creepiness often has some sort of purpose.

Survival of the fittest has been going on for millions of years, and nature doesn't just make animals creepy for fun, nor does it make them cute for fun either.

Take a look here, this is probably the least creepy fish in the world, and everybody knows it's the clownfish.

It doesn't really get much cuter than this, but they're dressed brightly for a reason.

They tell predators that this fish lives among sea anemones, which are full of stinging tentacles, basically saying, don't eat me or you'll get stung.

Survival of the cutest, you could say.

But for the deep sea, the rule seems to flip to survival of the creepiest.

At the bottom of the epipelagic zone is the stargazer fish, which, well, I don't really know who created this.

It's basically just a landmine, but the fact it just stares at you makes it even more creepy.

It literally buries itself into the sand, leaving only its eyes and mouths poking out.

So it can 1.

See you, and 2.

Eat you.

It's almost comical, like they're having a beach day where they bury themselves in the sand, But my worst fear is walking in the water

and sticking my toe in what was actually a fish's mouth and not just land.

But this is probably the creepiest fish you'll find in the Epype logic.

And since they bury themselves in the sand, they're technically at the very bottom of it.

But once you enter the Twilight Zone, you'll notice all the colorful fish are instantly gone.

But this makes sense though.

Since light can barely reach you, having bright warning colors like the clownfish isn't useful.

No one's even gonna see it.

You're getting chomped before they see your warning sign.

So the fish here stop being colorful.

But it's not like they just turn into pitch black versions of clownfish.

Instead, they turn more into something like this.

This is the hatchet fish. Because it...

It looks like a hatchet.

You'd think the marine biologists wouldn't be able to get away with names that are this informal.

They're silvery, and instead of being normal like clownfish, their eyes have moved so that they are permanently pointed upwards.

They wouldn't even be able to see you if you were standing right in front of them.

So why'd they make themselves just...disabled?

Well, the Twilight Zone has removed most light, but there's still a bit that leaks in from the epipelagic.

When they're permanently looking up, they can always see any faint outlines of any animals above them.

This can be to spot prey, but it's actually mostly to spot predators.

See, the hatchet fish look creepy with permanently stuck eyes, but they're actually doing it for defense.

They're actually usually only around a few centimeters long, So they aren't exactly the most threatening fish in the ocean.

Especially because most predators aren't afraid eating a couple creepy eyes.

Its entire body is actually designed to reflect light, and use a glowing underside to hide their shadow.

These poor fellas were trying so hard not to be eaten, that they ended up becoming terrifying little monsters in the process.

But at the bottom of the Twilight Zone is a fish with the complete opposite approach.

This is the Viperfish.

And for some reason, viperfish aren't just aggressive, but encoded somewhere in their DNA makes them attack nearly anything they come across.

They look terrifying, and to some smaller animals, they 100% are.

They take every opportunity they can get, and if they see something that looks like food, they'll try and bite it.

However, they're actually not that big.

They only grow up to around a foot long, which makes their teeth not too large by comparison to anything our size.

They kind of have the attitude of an apex predator, but to bigger animals, it's all bark and no bite.

Or, well, the bite's just not that strong.

Oddly enough, viperfish don't have scales, but instead have this mucus-like coating over their bodies.

But it's not slimy as in being gross, it's more like a weird gel layer.

The strange part is we don't fully understand what it is yet.

But this unique mixture's properties make it hydrodynamic and let viperfish glide through water faster, as well as it's anti-reflective.

But even though viperfish are dragonfish, there's another dragonfish that takes this layer of anti-reflection to the highest level in the entire known ocean.

This is the Pacific Black Dragon, a dragonfish so dark that its skin is reported to absorb up to 99.95% of light.

They look a bit similar since they're part of the same family.

So what is this dragonfish skin made of?

Well, it's different than the gel that viperfish have.

Theirs is made up of tightly packed melanosomes, which are tiny organelles filled with melanin pigment.

These melanosomes are arranged in a special microscopic structure that scatters and traps incoming light, preventing it from reflecting back.

Their stealth is near the maximum possible level as a result of this, since even bioluminescence isn't lighting these guys up.

It's a bit obvious why they'd evolve this way, but it's honestly so impressive that they're essentially the only creatures in the entire ocean to achieve this level of ultra black.

So what could be deeper than this?

Well, if you for some reason decide to descend even further into the Midnight Zone, you'll realize that the fish here are no longer able to even abuse any traces of light from the Epablagic.

It's either they make their own light, or there's no light at all.

And in this zone is probably the most iconic creepy fish in the entire world, the anglerfish.

If you've seen Finding Nemo, you'll recognize its big glowing bowl, called the Esker, which is what it uses to lure smaller fish in.

Once it gets close, it, well, does that.

That part was pretty obvious, but despite it being the classic horror animal of the sea, they're actually not dangerous to humans.

Even the largest ones only reach up to about a foot or two, and even if they did reach you, their creepy teeth are super thin and brittle,

and definitely aren't designed to stab through a human.

The only real dangerous part about seeing them is that it would mean you're thousands of meters below the ocean's surface, so the pressure would have killed you long before any anglerfish ever would.

At the bottom of the Midnight Zone is.. this thing.

This guy is actually also part of the dragonfish family, just perhaps the most unhinged one of all of them.

Literally unhinged.

This is the Stoplight Loose Jaw, and yes, I know it sounds like the name of a rock band, but it gets its name from having eyes that look like a stoplight, and a jaw that's really loose.

Essentially what this means is that its entire lower jaw is completely detached from the rest of its head, besides a tiny thin joint.

And I know this seems like another disability, but what it lets this fish do is unhinge its mouth not just super wide, but near instantly.

It essentially has a bear trap attached to its face, and can swallow things as large as its head.

Nothing's in the way.

No cheeks, no floor, just a big swallowing hole.

Each of its eyes produces red and green light too, hence the stoplight name, which helps it detect prey.

Basically, no deep sea fish can see red light, so not only can this guy see prey, they won't even know that he's lighting them up.

As for the green beam, well, we actually don't entirely know yet.

It might be used for mating or helping with navigation, but honestly, we just really don't know.

I think the most logical answer might be that they just love celebrating with Christmas colours.

But at the very bottom of the midnight zone lies what might be the weirdest fish of them all, the deep sea swallower.

This is also a similar nickname given to the gulper eel, but this is a completely different species, as this is a fish with fins.

They're also called black swallowers, and what they're good at doing is… well, you guessed it.

Black swallowers can swallow prey over twice their own length, or even ten times their own body weight.

What's strange is that you probably wouldn't even know this fish was a freak if it didn't have anything inside of it, as its stomach goes back to normal size after digestion.

This is another level of feeling bloated.

They become chunky, chunky.

100

And I know what you're thinking, this is cool and all, but this is just the same example of, well, answer super strong since they can lift 50 times their body weight.

101

But they only weigh a few milligrams, so it's not actually that impressive.

102

Well, this is a point, since black swallowers aren't that large, at only around 10 inches across.

103

But this does mean that they can swallow objects over 20 inches long, which is way longer than any human could ever do, even considering absolute size.

104

And if you were to do relative size, this would be like a human swallowing a sheep whole.

105

So why'd they evolve this way?

106

Well, when they're this deep, food isn't as common, but not impossible.

107

This adaptation is a strange one, but it lets the black swallower find one meal and then not have to find another for weeks.

108

But this doesn't come with no downsides.

109

When you become this fat after eating, you can imagine what it must feel like for the fish.

110

Carrying that amount of mass definitely slows them down, and can even make them extra buoyant and unintentionally flow upwards.

111

A ton of their energy is focused on digestion too, And it's not exactly easy to swim away when you look like you're 10 months, or well, 10 years pregnant.

112

But you're probably asking, what lies even deeper than this?

113

Below the midnight zone is the last zone of the normal ocean, the abyssopelagic zone, aka the abyss.

114

What lies here are the ugliest fish imaginable.

115

Case in point, this guy.

116

This is basically a normal anglerfish, on steroids.

117

It's called the tripjaw anglerfish, or the wonderfish, or by its scientific name, Traumatithis, and it's part of the wolf trap anglerfish family.

118

So what's the difference between these and normal wolf trap anglers?

119

Well, let's take a look at this normal wolf trap angler here.

120

Yes, they're also terrifying.

121

Yes, they're known as sea devils.

122

And yes, they are literally a fish with a fishing rod on their head.

123

Their jaws have interlocking teeth, which is where they get the wolf trap name from.

124

When something takes the bait, they physically trap them inside their teeth like a real wolf trap would.

125

Wonderfish on the other hand also have this same trap design, but you'll notice they don't have a lure.

126

So why are they still considered anglerfish?

127

Well, because the lure isn't on their head anymore.

128

It's directly inside their mouth.

129

Fish swim directly towards the wonderfish and get delivered straight into its digestive system with no extra hassle.

130

It's pretty weird and honestly kinda strange that they choose to move their giant glowing ball inside their mouth.

131

But is this more effective?

132

And why'd they become the only anglerfish to adapt this way?

133

Well, we don't fully know, but it's suspected that the reason is because wonderfish live in the abyss, which is the deepest of all anglerfish.

134

Light is so unbelievably reduced in this zone that it's possible to have the giant law sitting inside a mouth.

135

If there was any more light from above, it might still give away faint outlines and scare prey off.

136

With this, there's only one step for the feeding machine, and they can save even more energy without waving around.

137

Wonderfish is definitely not the name I would have given a fish that looks like this, but it is pretty impressive to stick a light bulb in your own mouth.

138

At the bottom of the abyssal zone is the ocean floor.

139

So what happens to fish on the ocean floor?

140

Well, since there is a floor, the fish evolved to stand on it.

141

This is the tripod fish, and it genuinely stands on the ground.

142

This is the only fish in the world that's capable of this, Which I guess isn't too surprising, since what advantage could this possibly give any normal fish in the open ocean?

143

Well, these aren't actually legs, even though they are 100% supporting the fish up.

144

It doesn't walk like a crab or a frog either.

145

It instead just balances on these three ridiculously long fin rays.

146

One comes off the tail, and two from the pelvic fins.

147

In most fish, these fin rays are soft and flexible, but in the tripod fish, they're reinforced and stiffened into bone-like rods that can reach over three feet long,

148

even though the actual fish is only about a foot.

149

It's almost horrifying to think that evolution drove this otherwise normal fish to extend its fins

150

so long that they literally became giant stilts for the fish to stand out.

151

So why did this happen?

152

At the bottom of the abyss doing nothing is good.

153

With no sunlight and barely any food, the world is essentially in slow motion here.

154

Most hunters live in the upper abyss or the other higher zones.

155

It's too deep for most hyper aggressive animals, so the tripod fish sits and waits.

156

Or stands and waits.

157

Standing above the sea floor allows it to hold a position for hours or even days.

158

And in the abyss there's a slow water current that flows by, causing things to drift slowly by.

159

They're usually eating tiny things like zooplankton or worms, definitely not any large prey.

160

But once something comes nearby, their upper fins are hypersensitive enough to know something's near, and they can lean forwards to snatch it.

161

This might just be the worst life to ever exist, eternally standing still and waiting to eat just so they can.. continue standing still.

162

Swim too much and they'll run out of energy, but at least they'll get to find a mate and reproduce.

163

Right?

164

Not even.

165

Tripod fish barely move, and evolution found a way around that too, by making them both male and female at the same time.

166

They are capable of reproducing with other tripods, but it's extremely rare to find another, and they usually just self-fertilize.

167

The eggs float upwards into shallower water, and when they grow up, they drift back down and become an adult, standing on their biological stilts,

168

alone, forever, until they die.

169

If you thought being an adult was hard, remember that these guys exist.

170

While not necessarily threatening, these fish probably have the loneliest lives in the entire ocean.

171

On a real note, if they were smart enough to be real social creatures like us, they probably wouldn't be able to exist as a species.

172

They would simply go insane.

173

So we've hit the bottom of the ocean.

174

What could be deeper than this?

175

If you've seen any of our other videos, you'd know about the ocean's hidden zone

176

that only exists in a select few places in the world where oceanic trenches are formed.

177

This is the Haddle Zone, the deepest zone in the world that extends all the way into the deepest point in the ocean that we know of.

178

Most things here are either microscopic forms of life, or just don't exist.

179

Except one.

180

The deepest living fish ever recorded.

181

The only fish that is capable of surviving tens of thousands of pounds per square inch of pressure.

182

A creature so soft and gelatinous, it looks like it shouldn't even be alive.

183

This is the snailfish.

184

Snailfish don't have scales, or armor, or barely any bone structure.

185

And this is because if they had any more, they'd be crushed.

186

Their eyes are being reduced to simple light patches under the skin, and they don't even have a swim bladder, because any gas-filled organ would collapse here.

187

The snailfish is what you'd get if you removed everything unnecessarily from a fish, and left it with only the basics of what it needs to exist.

188

It has a basic brain and nervous system, just enough to detect any vibrations in the water.

189

Its mouth is simple because it doesn't need any heavy chewing for what it eats.

190

Its fins are simple to just allow it to move.

191

And everything else just wasn't a requirement to live.

192

That's the life in the Haddle Zone, as there's no monstrous adaptations left for evolution to give these fish, besides the adaptation to exist, to endure.

193

Whether their life is worse than tripod fishes, I'm honestly not sure.

194

Chances are, they probably lost their ability to understand they exist in the first place too, as even that wasn't a requirement.

195

In any case, I hope you enjoyed the video.

196

We just hit 40,000 subscribers, so from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

197

Please let me know what you'd like to see next.

198

And if you want to watch our video about Whale Falls and how they die, check it out here.

Что такое техника Shadowing?

Shadowing — это научно обоснованная техника изучения языка, изначально разработанная для подготовки профессиональных переводчиков и популяризированная полиглотом доктором Александром Аргуэльесом. Метод прост, но эффективен: вы слушаете аудио на английском от носителей языка и немедленно повторяете вслух — как тень, следующая за говорящим с задержкой в 1–2 секунды. В отличие от пассивного прослушивания или грамматических упражнений, Shadowing заставляет мозг и мышцы рта одновременно обрабатывать и воспроизводить реальные речевые паттерны. Исследования показывают, что это значительно улучшает точность произношения, интонацию, ритм, связную речь, понимание на слух и беглость речи — что делает его одним из самых эффективных методов для подготовки к IELTS Speaking и реального общения на английском.

Практика Shadowing: The Creepiest Fish Found at the Bottom of Our Oceans - Изучайте разговорный английский по видео

Об этой лекции

Ключевая лексика и фразы

Советы по практике

Что такое техника Shadowing?