page_title: Pacific viperfish
hierarchical_section_title: Pacific viperfish
caption_attribution_description: English: Head of a pacific Viperfish caught during trawling operations. Image ID: fish4036, NOAA's Fisheries Collection Location: Alaska, Southeast Photo Date: 2001
context_page_description: The Pacific viperfish, Chauliodus macouni, is a predatory fish that lives in the bathyal zone or bathypelgic, ranging from 1000m-4000m and having an average temperature of 4 degrees Celsius. However, the pacific viperfish has been found in the mesopelagic region, above the bathypelagic. In daytime it can be found from 200–5000 m below the ocean surface. At night it swims up into shallower depths of less than 200m where food is more plentiful. Pacific viperfish do not have a particular fish that they mainly feed on, but they will go after crustaceans, plankton, shrimp, small fish and occasionally will catch a larger fish. The pacific viperfish is one of the nine different species that belong to the genus Chauliodus or Viperfish. The pacific viperfish tend to be the largest of the species, typically reaching lengths of up to 1 foot and are considered an example of deep-sea gigantism.
  The pacific viperfish is classified as one of the most ferocious deep seas fish for its size. They are iridescent dark silver-blue color in life with pale fins. They can also be a light black color with blue fins.
context_section_description: The Pacific viperfish, Chauliodus macouni, is a predatory fish that lives in the bathyal zone or bathypelgic, ranging from 1000m-4000m and having an average temperature of 4 degrees Celsius. However, the pacific viperfish has been found in the mesopelagic region, above the bathypelagic.  In daytime it can be found from 200–5000 m below the ocean surface. At night it swims up into shallower depths of less than 200m where food is more plentiful. Pacific viperfish do not have a particular fish that they mainly feed on, but they will go after crustaceans, plankton, shrimp, small fish and occasionally will catch a larger fish.  The pacific viperfish is one of the nine different species that belong to the genus Chauliodus or Viperfish. The pacific viperfish tend to be the largest of the species, typically reaching lengths of up to 1 foot and are considered an example of deep-sea gigantism.
  The pacific viperfish is classified as one of the most ferocious deep seas fish for its size. They are iridescent dark silver-blue color in life with pale fins. They can also be a light black color with blue fins. Looking at the mouth and curvature of teeth one can easily recognize the pacific viperfish.  The fangs of the pacific viper are abnormally long that its jaw is extended out, so its teeth can fit outside of its mouth.  The fangs rest near the viper’s eyes.  These fangs are the viper’s way of killing fish, the viper will swim at high speeds at its prey and impale them in the process.  High speed collisions and force in bites have cause the viperfish to adapt to high impact. The vertebrae that is located right behind its head is used a shock absorber, very similar to an air bag. They are excellent maneuvers in areas that receive significantly less sunlight than uppermost regions. This is accredited to a protein in the rods known as Rhodopsins, composed of the transmembrane protein opsin, and a chromophore (Yokoyama, S., Tada, T., Zhang, H., & Britt, L., 2008).
caption: Head of the pacific viperfish
exif: {}