Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Spookfish Uses Mirrors For Eyes

Posted by timothy on from the still-working-on-the-trenchcoat dept.

Kligat writes "The brownsnout spookfish in the Pacific is the first known vertebrate to use mirrors to focus light into its eyes. Despite being a species known for 120 years, this was not known until a live specimen was caught between New Zealand and Samoa last year. The fish lives over 1,000 meters below the ocean's surface, so the light focused by the mirrors' perfectly curved surfaces provides a major advantage over other fish."

10 of 81 comments (clear)

  1. Site is down by Yvan256 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Any Spookfish got a mirror?

  2. Dopefish by mfh · · Score: 3, Funny

    The Dopefish uses complex pot-philosophy for inner-vision.

    --
    The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
  3. Re:More importantly by Philip+K+Dickhead · · Score: 3, Funny

    Probably...

    like chicken.

    --
    "Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
  4. Re:That's Spooky! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    According to the article, "The mirror uses tiny plates, probably of guanine crystals, arranged into a multi-layer stack."

    I know the British spell things differently than us, but there wasn't an 'a' in 'genuine' last time I checked.

  5. Of course... by SirLurksAlot · · Score: 4, Funny

    This evolutionary development is in response to the Spookfish's natural enemy, the Medusa!

    --
    God, schmod. I want my monkey man!
  6. In other news Texas Instruments sues Nature by erroneus · · Score: 4, Funny

    Texas Instruments, the holder of several patents related to DLP technolgy has filed suit in a Texas court with a complaint related to the use of their tiny mirror imaging technology.

  7. Re:So, what's the current count of times eyes evol by Skadet · · Score: 3, Interesting

    And the corresponding link to what you were talking about... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye#Types_of_eye

    --
    Sony ha
  8. Re:That's Spooky! by mr_mischief · · Score: 3, Insightful

    There's an old saying that fish rot from the head first. Perhaps no dead specimens have been found with the eyes intact, and they've not yet cut the live specimen up to test the eyes.

  9. Objects In Eye Are Closer Than They Appear by jbezorg · · Score: 4, Funny

    There, now it's been done.

    --
    I've lost all my marbles except one & It's fun to test angular & centripetal acceleration in my skull
  10. Better link showing how the eye is arranged. by Myrv · · Score: 5, Informative

    I was having trouble visualizing how this works but then I found this link with a diagram of the eye's anatomy