The Sloane’s viperfish rarely exceeds 35cm in length, but what it lacks in size it more than makes up for in fearsome form. With huge teeth and jaws that dislocate to 90 degrees, this is a miniature monster of the deep – and it swims in tropical and temperate seas throughout the world.
First described in the early 19th century, Chauliodus sloani was named in honour of Sir Hans Sloane, an 18thcentury naturalist and physician. Sloane is often remembered for his association with a recipe for drinking chocolate, but he was also an avid collector whose bequeathment of 71,000 items to the British public formed the basis for the Natural History Museum and British Museum.
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Sloane’s viperfish is a member of the dragonfish family Stomiidae, which are typically deep-sea dwelling, ray-finned species with large mouths and fang-like teeth. Chauliodus sloani has a slim, tapered body, shaped like an elongated hatchet, although its appearance is dominated by the mouth and more pertinently the teeth.
The fangs are huge, too large for the fish to close its mouth. Instead, they act as a cage, trapping would be prey as though in a prison cell. This enables the viperfish to consume fish up to two-thirds of its own size, meaning a single meal might sustain the viperfish for a fortnight or more.
Although they will eat crustaceans, the diet of the Sloane’s viperfish is formed primarily of other fish, particularly myctophids which are more commonly known as lanternfish, a family so named due to their ability to produce light.
This is a vital means of communication in the inky blackness of the deep sea and the Sloane’s viperfish can also create bioluminescence by releasing a chemical combination of adrenaline and noradrenaline which react within anatomical structures known as photophores. The subsequent glow may well be used as a means of attracting prey, possibly piquing the curiosity of lanternfish that are attracted by the light but unaware that they may be swimming into a trap.
Additionally, or alternatively, the viperfish may use the long, flexible primary spine of the dorsal fin as a means of luring prey. In a manner similar to an anglerfish, the viperfish may arch its back so that the tip of the ray drops, teasingly, in front of its own face.
The position of the dorsal fin, just behind the head, would certainly support this behavioural theory, but, despite its ubiquity, the depths at which the viperfish is found make detailed field study extremely difficult.What is undoubted, however, is the flexibility of the jaw.
The teeth are fixed, with no give or ability to recess into the gums, so in order to create sufficient gape to catch prey, the viperfish must dislocate its jaw and open its mouth really wide. Once engulfed, the prey fish, if still alive, then finds itself trapped behind toothy bars before it is digested.
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