The angler pulls up the strange fish with bulging eyes, stomach sticking out of the mouth: What is this phenomenon?

Two anglers went fishing together on the sea in the Mentawai archipelago, Indonesia. However, the last fish on that fishing trip that they pulled up was a very strange creature with red color and bulging eyes.

Very peculiar creature with red color and bulging eyes.

Although the owner of the YouTube channel Cavy Fishing of a large fishing channel with nearly 500,000 subscribers, the angler who pulled the fish up did not know the identity of this fish and thought it could be a grouper (scientific name). Study: Epinephelus itajara).

The angler suddenly pulled up this bizarre creature

The creature had bulging eyes and thick teeth out of its mouth, making it look even more bizarre. In fact, it is just a military fish, also known as sea perch (scientific name: Sebastes). So why does this fish have such an unsightly shape?

A fish suffering from barotrauma.

The main reason is the change in pressure. The term used by professional anglers to call it barotrauma, refers to creatures living in the deep sea that are pulled up from the surface of the sea.

Barotrauma occurs when there is an excessive pressure differential due to rapid changes in ambient pressure and the body's inability to equalize pressure. The air-filled cavities in the body are the parts most vulnerable to this phenomenon.

When a fish in a deep layer is pulled up, the fish's bladder - an important part that helps the fish change depth when swimming is suddenly impacted by pressure, causing it to expand too much and stick out its mouth. fish.

Fish eyes are similarly affected by this physical phenomenon. Normally, recreational sport anglers would drop the fish they caught into the sea, but not in these cases.

Fish with barotrauma will find it very difficult to return to the sea floor, but can only float near the surface of the water, becoming a target for other marine predators or even seabirds.