This video, collected during Dive 16 of the Windows to the Deep 2018 expedition, highlights a benthic fish identified as an Atlantic Midshipman (Porichthys plectrodon) dwelling in a burrow. This fish snatches a large midwater fish, a barracudina in the family Paralepididae, as it swims by. Quill worms and an unlucky snail (wait for the end!) bear witness to the scene.
This remarkable video footage gives us the rare opportunity to document a predation event in the deep ocean, while highlighting the trophic (food web) links between animals that live in the water column with those that live on the seafloor.
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Video courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, Windows to the Deep 2018.