Science magazine has released a peculiar video showing the mating ritual of a scary-looking Fanfin Seadevil Anglerfish captured on a live video for the very first time. Anglerfish fish is one of the mysterious deep sea creatures found in the uncharted depths of the ocean. According to Newsweek, Anglerfish is one of the mysterious inhabitants of deep-sea popularly known by rarely seen in their natural habitat. Interestingly, scientists have a handful of these monstrous-looking fishes in their collections belonging to female gender since a male member of these fishes has never been encountered ever.

Researchers Joachim Jakobsen and Kirsten who operated the submersible craft 870 years deep in the North Atlantic Ocean captured the film. The craft is operated by Rebikoff-Niggeler Foundation. According to the live footage captured from a small window of this submersible craft, a female anglerfish fish the size of a fist can be seen mating with a rather tiny male anglerfish. The researchers have encountered a bizarre form of sexual parasite since the male counterpart bits off a section of female’s body and then, the tissues and circulatory system of both these fishes fuse together to form a single organism. This parasitic connection allows the male to receive nutrients from the female as well as fertilize her eggs where the process is continued throughout its lifetime.

Ted Pietsch, a professor at the University of Washington who is an expert on anglerfishes stated that this bizarre mating ritual is a unique and never-before-seen sight. He further elaborated on the subject saying there are not too many videos available on anglerfishes and whatever scientists know about these mysterious creatures is from the studies of dead fishes.

Anglerfishes have long floating filaments and fin rays that produce an epic light show which is believed to be seen as a warning for predators as it camouflages its size into a larger one and on the other hand, it also attracts preys with its light show. The video depicts how Fanfin Seadevil anglerfish is different from other species as its fin rays tend to have dedicated muscles to move it individually unlike other fishes which have a single unit to control the fin rays.

The couple was observed by a submersible craft at a depth of 2,600 ft via a 3.5-foot-wide window after which, the footage was sent to the expert Ted Pietsch to study and confirm its identity and how these two fishes were involved.