Although flatfish are bottom dwellers, they are not usually deep sea fish, but are found mainly in estuaries and on the continental shelf. When flatfish larvae hatch they have the elongated and symmetric shape of a typical bony fish. The larvae do not dwell on the bottom, but float in the sea as plankton. read more
Still deeper down the water column, below 1000 metres, are found the bathypelagic fishes. At this depth the ocean is pitch black, and the fish are sedentary, adapted to outputting minimum energy in a habitat with very little food and no sunlight. Bioluminescence is the only light available at these depths. read more
Deep-sea fish are fish that live in the darkness below the sunlit surface waters, that is below the epipelagic or photic zone of the sea. The lanternfish is, by far, the most common deep-sea fish. Other deep sea fishes include the flashlight fish, cookiecutter shark, bristlemouths, anglerfish, viperfish, and some species of eelpout. read more