page_title: Deepsea lizardfish
section_title: Feeding habits
hierarchical_section_title: Deepsea lizardfish / Feeding habits
caption_attribution_description: English: A 70-cm scraggly toothed bathysaurus fish Indonesia.
context_page_description: The deepsea lizardfish, Bathysaurus ferox, is an aulopiform of the family Bathysauridae, found in tropical and subtropical seas across the world. The deepsea lizardfish should not be confused with the true or "typical" lizardfishes of the related family Synodontidae.
context_section_description: Deepsea lizardfish are one of the world's deepest living apex predators, and will not hesitate to eat anything they meet, including their own kind.  They are predominantly piscivores, hunting deep-dwelling demersal and bathypelagic fishes. Occasionally, they also feed on crustaceans and molluscs, as well as on dead fish drifting down from above.
  Most of the time, the deepsea lizardfish maintains a motionless stance on the substrate, with head and fore-body raised, waiting for prey. Being well equipped to pursue and devour whole prey, it captures it by lunging forward in a sudden rapid burst, accompanied by a snap of its trap-like jaws.
caption: Bathysaurus ferox
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