Images: A Goosefish's Ethereal Veil of Eggs

By Megan Gannon
published

Gauzy Spectacle

(Image credit: New England Aquarium)

The monkfish, or goosefish, lays its eggs in the form a veil that can be up to 60 feet long.

Egg Veil

(Image credit: New England Aquarium)

Sometimes, the egg veil is described as being as similar to bubble wrap. Each veil the monkfish lays is dotted with about a million eggs.

Ethereal Eggs

(Image credit: New England Aquarium)

This egg veil was laid by a female monkfish on display at the New England Aquarium in Boston on Sept. 23. The bottom-feeding fish can be spotted in the sand, underneath its ethereal creation.

Monkfish Egg Veil

(Image credit: New England Aquarium)

Typically, fertilization results in just 6 or 7 offspring, said aquarist Bill Murphy of the New England Aquarium.

Beast Behind the Beauty

(Image credit: New England Aquarium)

This is the goosefish that creates the incredible egg veil.

Megan Gannon
Live Science Contributor
Megan has been writing for Live Science and Space.com since 2012. Her interests range from archaeology to space exploration, and she has a bachelor's degree in English and art history from New York University. Megan spent two years as a reporter on the national desk at NewsCore. She has watched dinosaur auctions, witnessed rocket launches, licked ancient pottery sherds in Cyprus and flown in zero gravity. Follow her on Twitter and Google+.