Predatory 'king' of the Japanese sea: The body is 'big', dominating at a depth of 2,000 meters of water

The yokozuna shark is probably the largest bony fish living in the depths known to mankind.

The "Great King" with a large body dominates the deep sea

Japanese scientists have recorded rare footage of a shark with black bones, a large body. This fish is considered the largest deep-sea fish ever seen, according to the Japan Agency for Ocean-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC).

Scientists calculate this ocean "king" is up to 2.5m in size.

According to scientists at JAMSTEC, this fish was only recognized as a new species last January and is the apex predator in the deep waters of Suruga Bay. To photograph a particularly "big" fish, they lured it into a cage located 2km deep on the seabed, 400km off the coast of Suruga Bay.

After luring a few yokozuna sharks into the cage, they observed what they were doing and estimated their size. Accordingly, a "king" fish drove other fish away from the food for it to eat. Scientists calculate this ocean "king" is up to 2.5m in size, which is an outsize even for those of the same species.

"The fish discovered this time was so large that we had to calculate it over and over again," said Yoshihiro Fujiwara, a principal researcher in deep-sea biology at JAMSTEC. He also said it is possible that there are many other mysterious ocean inhabitants living in the deep sea, similar to this shark but have not been found.

Photo of a yokozuna shark provided by JAMSTEC.

To date, 6 yokozuna sharks have been caught, but the largest is only considered "tiny" compared to the oversized one, with a size of 1.4m.

Before this "king" of sharks, the largest fish found living in the deep sea was the grenadier rattail. The largest individual of this strangely named fish has a length of 2.1m.

Exciting discovery and honorable name

Finding this particular fish and naming it is also an interesting story. One sunny winter day, oceanographer Yoshihiro Fujiwara was measuring and observing the dwarf ferrets like any other normal day when suddenly a commotion broke out on the boat.

The crew of the research ship has just encountered a strange, large fish.

"Oh! I have a coelacanth!" - when bringing the above individual on board, its size surprised the crew so much that it suddenly remembered a species of "living fossil" that is only found in Africa and Indonesia.

JAMSTEC is studying an individual through a scanner.

However, Fujiwara is a little suspicious because this area of ​​​​Suruga Bay is inherently crowded with ocean dwellers. Moreover, scientists have extensively studied this area since the 19th century, so he thought that someone must have found this fish before.

Surprised Fujiwara was wrong! After reviewing documents and cross-checking with colleagues around the world, his team at JAMSTEC discovered that this large, toothy mouth fish with a spear-shaped head is a completely new species. - a biological discovery.

After discovering a few more individuals, they decided to preserve them in chemicals or freezers for later study. Using scientific methods, they found it to be a type of shark - an order of fish with a worldwide distribution.

The thing is, these fish are mutated in size. While their cousins ​​are only about 35cm, this group of fish grows to an average of 1.4 meters long and weighs 25kg - about the size of a small child. It should be known that such size, especially the 2.5m "king" fish mentioned above, is extremely rare in species that live deeper than 2,000m of water.

The mouth full of teeth is the fearsome weapon of these ocean "boxers".

Thanks to that size, these fish are honored with the name "yokozuna" - the highest level in the traditional Japanese sumo system. But the size is not enough to say its "warrior" capacity. This group of fish has a muscular, strong body and a more "aggressive" diet than their mediocre relatives who only hunt jellyfish with plankton.

The yokozuna shark doesn't crave such insignificant and weak "food"; They hunt other fish and even "eat" the carcasses of marine life. Moreover, they are also veteran swimmers and can swim very far, in contrast to the more than 100-odd cousins ​​of the same order of sharks.

And yet, its weaponry is also a "forest of swords and spears" with 80-100 sharp teeth, ready to destroy all enemies. With such biological properties, the yokozuna shark can be likened to a lion or a deep-sea version of killer whale.

However, there are still so many mysteries about this deep-sea fish that scientists are still eager to learn more.