@mbari_news: Dragon in the deep. 🐉⁠ ⁠ Dragonfish (family Stomiidae) are cunning predators. Although they are strong swimmers, they prefer to lie in wait and ambush unsuspecting fishes and crustaceans. Most have dark skin—pigmented with some of the blackest blacks known in nature—to stay camouflaged from their prey. Some dragonfishes dangle a luminescent lure from their chins to entice prey. When a tasty morsel comes close, their big jaws open wide, and sharp teeth snap shut.⁠ ⁠ The black dragonfish (Idiacanthus sp.) in this clip was spotted at 527 meters (1,729 feet) in the Greater Monterey Bay area. ⁠#creatorsearchinsights #dragonfish #blackdragonfish #deepsea #deepocean #ocean #marinebiology