It might look like an alien from outer space, but this bizarre creature is a four-eyed fish that lives deep beneath the ocean on our planet.
The fish’s extra pair of eyes give it 360° vision, even though the animal lives deep below the ocean’s surface in almost pitch-black waters.
The scientist who made the discovery believes the glasshead barreleye fish has evolved with extra eyes so it can detect prey, predators and potential mates.
Also known as Rhynchohyalus natalensis, it lives at depths of between 2,600ft (800 metres) and 3,300ft (1,000 metres).
It has two primary cylindrical eyes pointing upwards so it can see prey or predators silhouetted against the gloomy light above.
It also has a second set of silvery eyes on the side of its head which have a mirror-like second lens and retina. These contribute to the fish’s strange appearance.
The German scientists who explored how the fish is likely to see claim it has a previously unknown type of eye.
Its silvery ‘extra’ eyes detect bioluminescent flashes created by deep-sea creatures to give the glasshead barreleye fish views to its sides and below, according to a study in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society.
The light coming from below is focused onto a second ‘retina’ by a curved mirror composed of many layers of small reflective plates made of guanine crystals, giving the fish a much bigger field of vision.
It was caught in the Tasman Sea during an international research project and measures 18cm in length.
The results of the study into the fish’s vision were unexpected as reflector eyes are usually only found in invertebrates, such as molluscs and crustaceans.
However, one other vertebrate, the deep-sea brownsnout spookfish or (Dolichopteryx longipes) also uses a combination of reflective and refractive lenses in its eyes.
Professor Hans-Joachim Wagner, of the University of Tubingen’s Institute of Anatomy in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, made the discovery.
He said: Obviously, a broad field of vision is an advantage even at great depths.’
Associated Newspapers Ltd