''Bathysphaera intacta'', or the giant dragonfish, is a

hypothetical species Several species have been assumed to exist, but due to a lack of physical evidence they can only be regarded as potential species. Hypothetical species are usually believed to be extinct. They have caused confusion, as they may have been a separat ...

of fish described by

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

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

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

Background

Beebe's

bathysphere The ''Bathysphere'' () was a unique spherical deep sea, 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 ''Bathysphere'' wa ...

was a new yet primitive invention. It was a rounded steel enclosure with space for two people, its external layer being 3 centimetres thick. On the side, there was a single window fifteen centimetres across. It was fitted with a heavy steel door that had to be bolted on. With no maneuverability, navigation of the bathysphere was dependent on the ship it had been attached to. Beebe used this submersible in his deep-sea expeditions from 1930 to 1934.

The encounter

Beebe encountered two fish, which he had described as "six feet long". He said they resembled barracudas, with short heads and jaws that were constantly opened, and that they were

bioluminescent Bioluminescence is the emission of light during a chemiluminescence reaction by living organisms. Bioluminescence occurs in multifarious organisms ranging from marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms inc ...

: "strong lights, pale bluish, were strung down the body". Beebe had brought no camera with him and instead described the species in detail to the artist Else Bostelmann, who illustrated his findings. 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. In the name ''Bathysphaera intacta'', "bathysphaera" refers to his submersible, and "intacta", in this context, means "untouchable".

Status of existence

None of the five new fish described by Beebe were confirmed to exist, except 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 known dragonfish species is the obese dragonfish. It attains a maximum length of 55 centimetres, less than a third of the length of the fish Beebe saw.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q21224523, from2=Q810815 Aquatic cryptids Controversial fish taxa Fish described in 1932

Background

The encounter

Status of existence

See also

References