Fish
Faceless Fish
Typhlonus nasus · also called faceless cusk
Lacking any visible eyes and feeding through a mouth tucked beneath its body, a faceless fish went unseen alive for over a century after its first, damaged specimen was described, remaining one of the rarest sightings in the deep sea.
Overview
The faceless fish, Typhlonus nasus, is an extremely rare, deep-dwelling carnivore native to deep ocean habitat recorded in parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Its externally invisible eyes, underslung mouth, and century-long gap between confirmed sightings make it one of the most elusive and genuinely mysterious fish species found anywhere in the ocean.
A species science almost forgot
Known to science for well over a hundred years from a single damaged specimen before ever being seen alive again, the faceless fish stands as a reminder of just how much of the deep ocean remains functionally unexplored, even for species already formally named.
Status
Data Deficient, with population size and trends largely unknown due to the species’ extreme rarity in observation and depth habitat.
Faceless Fish: common questions
Does the faceless fish really have no eyes?
This species has extremely reduced eyes buried beneath its skin, giving it a genuinely faceless appearance from the front, though it may retain some limited visual function despite the eyes not being externally visible.
Why is it called the faceless fish?
This species has no visible eyes from the front and a mouth positioned underneath its body rather than at the front, giving it an unusually smooth, featureless appearance that inspired its common name.
Why did the faceless fish go unrecorded for so long?
This species was originally described from a single damaged specimen in the nineteenth century and was not photographed alive again until more than a hundred years later, largely due to its extreme depth habitat and genuine rarity.
How much is known about the faceless fish today?
Very little, this species remains extremely rarely observed, with only a small number of confirmed sightings recorded since its rediscovery, leaving most details of its biology and behaviour still poorly understood.