Deep-Sea Fish: A Gallery of What We Catch

orange roughy deep sea fish
Deep-sea dwelling orange roughy, like these, can live more than a century making them vulnerable to overfishing. (Image credit: Image courtesy of R. Waller in the NE Atlantic / NOAA)

Old Timers

Orange Roughy deep sea fish

(Image credit: Image courtesy of R. Waller in the NE Atlantic / NOAA)

Some deep-sea fish tend to grow more slowly, live longer lives and reproduce only periodically, making their populations easier to deplete. Deep-sea dwelling Orange roughy, like these, can live for more than a century. People began fishing for them in the 1970s near New Zealand. Since then new fisheries have opened up, but catches have plummeted.

In Its Habitat

orange roughy deep sea fish near New Zealand

(Image credit: Image courtesy of NEW ZEEPS 2006 Expedition, NOAA/NIWA)

An orange roughy swims by marine tube worms, clam shells, and carbonate rocks at a cold seep site, where chemicals seep from the Earth's crust at the same temperature as the seawater, near New Zealand.

Roundnose Grenadier

roundnose grenadier shown here in the deep sea

(Image credit: NOAA)

The roundnose grenadier has large eyes and lives in the dark, cold waters of the deep seafloor. There, it feeds on fishes, small shrimp and other invertebrates.

Wreckfish

wreckfish on sea bottom

(Image credit: Islands in the Stream 2001, NOAA/OER.)

Wreckfish weigh on average about 35 pounds (16 kilograms) and are associated with rocky bottoms of the deep sea.

Outside Its Natural Habitat

Barrelfish deep sea fish

(Image credit: NOAA)

The American barrelfish, like this one, has proved eluded underwater sightings.

Lanternfish Larva

deep-sea lanternfish larva

(Image credit: Islands in the Stream 2001, NOAA/OER.)

A magnified photo of a myctophid, or deep-sea lanternfish, larva.

Wynne Parry
Wynne was a reporter at The Stamford Advocate. She has interned at Discover magazine and has freelanced for The New York Times and Scientific American's web site. She has a masters in journalism from Columbia University and a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Utah.