An illustration based on Else Bostelmann's reconstruction "''Bathysphaera intacta''", the "giant dragonfish" is species of fish that was described by

William Beebe Charles William Beebe ( ; July 29, 1877 – June 4, 1962) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, marine biologist, entomologist, explorer, and author. He is remembered for the numerous expeditions he conducted for the New York Zoological S ...

on 22 September 1932, being spotted by the biologist as he descended to a depth of 640 metres (2100 feet) of the coast of

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

Background

The "

bathysphere The Bathysphere (Greek: , , "deep" and , , "sphere") was a unique spherical deep-sea submersible which was unpowered and lowered into the ocean on a cable, and was used to conduct a series of dives off the coast of Bermuda from 1930 to 1934. The ...

", as termed by Beebe, was a new invention, a rounded steel enclosure with space adequate for two people. On the side, there was a single window, fifteen centimetres across. Having no camera equipment on the 1930 to 1934 dives, Beebe described observations in detail to

Else Bostelmann Else Winkler von Röder (Roeder) Bostelmann (1882-1961), a German-born American artist, joined the New York Zoological Society (now the Wildlife Conservation Society) in 1929 to paint marine life during William Beebe's bathysphere oceanographic e ...

, an artist who proceeded to illustrate the descriptions.

The encounter

Beebe encountered two fish, which he had described as "six feet long". He said they resembled

barracuda A barracuda, or cuda for short, is a large, predatory, ray-finned fish known for its fearsome appearance and ferocious behaviour. The barracuda is a saltwater fish of the genus ''Sphyraena'', the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae, which was ...

s, with short heads and jaws that were constantly opened. The fish expressed bioluminescence, as stated by him: "strong lights, pale bluish, was strung down the body". Bebe then expressed his justification for classifying them as dragonfish: "Vertical fins well back were one of the characters which placed it among the sea-dragons, Melanostomiatids, and were clearly seen when the fish passed through the beam. There were two long tentacles, hanging down from the body, each tipped with a pair of separate, luminous bodies, the upper reddish, the lower one blue. These twitched and jerked along beneath the fish, one undoubtedly arising from the chin, and the other far back near the tail. I could see neither the stem of the tentacles nor any paired fins, although both were certainly present." It was the first fish described by Beebe, which he gave the name ''Bathysphaera intacta'', with “bathysphaera” referring to his submersible and "intacta", in his context, meaning "untouchable".

Status of existence

left, '' Opostomias micripnus'',
the largest dragonfish described Of the six new fish described by Beebe, none of them were confirmed to exist. The existence of all fishes were confirmed by his colleague Otis Barton, who descended with him in the submersible . At the time, the largest dragonfish commonly attained lengths of 40 centimetres, a fact that Beebe acknowledges. He refers to the giant dragonfish as being "related to the scaleless black dragonfish ('' Melanostomias bartonbeani'')". Currently, the largest dragon fish species is the obese dragonfish. Even then, its attained length is a maximum of 55 centimetres which is less than a third of the length of the fish that Beebe saw. The status of this species remains unresolved, and has been deemed a

hypothetical species Several species have been assumed to exist, but due to a lack of evidence they can only be regarded as potential species. They have caused confusion, as they may have been a separate species, a subspecies, an introduced species or a misidentifica ...

or a

cryptid Cryptids are animals that cryptozoologists believe may exist somewhere in the wild, but are not believed to exist by mainstream science. Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience, which primarily looks at anecdotal stories, and other claims rejected by ...

by many.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q21224523, from2=Q810815 Controversial taxa Cryptids Fish described in 1932

Background

The encounter

Status of existence

See also

References