Enlarge this imageThis species of dragonfish can grow to just under 7 inches long and can be often found 1,000 feet or more below the ocean’s surface.Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute/Screenshot by NPRhide captiontoggle captionMonterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute/Screenshot by NPRThis species of dragonfish can grow to just under 7 Evgeni Malkin Jersey inches long and can be often found 1,000 feet or more below the ocean’s surface.Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute/Screenshot by NPRResearchers in California recently came acro s an incredibly elusive type of deep-sea dragonfish nearly 1,000 feet below the ocean surface.The highfin dragonfish, Bathophilus flemingi, was recently spotted by a team of Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute researchers aboard the Western Flyer research ve sel, the institute announced on Twitter. And though they have come acro s dragonfish before, this particular find was incredibly special. Joakim Ryan Jersey “In more than three decades of deep-sea research and more than 27,600 hours of video, we’ve only seen this particular species four times!” the post reads. During a recent expedition aboard our research ve sel Western Flyer, MBARIs science team encountered a beautifully bronze deep-sea dragon. Meet the highfin dragonfish, Bathophilus flemingi. pic.twitter.com/qp2jMDm2pM MBARI (@MBARI_News) May 3, 2022 This creature of the deep maxes out at just under 7 inches long, though some of its cousins can Andre Burakovsky Jersey grow to be as big as 20 inches long. According to Fishbase, the highfin dragonfish is found in the eastern Pacific ocean off the west coast of North America and at depths ranging between about 740 feet to 4,500 feet below the ocean’s surface. With an appearance akin to something out of a science-fiction flick Marcel Dionne Jersey , these fish have long narrow bodies and little fins. And though the specimen the researchers encountered was a beautiful shade of orange, most types of dragonfish are black. In fact, the pigment of their skin is some of the blackest blacks found in nature, MBARI said.Some dragonfish utilize a luminescent lure to catch their prey, dangling it in front of its mouth until an unsuspecting treat comes along.