Head to head
Faceless Fish vs Barreleye
The faceless fish and barreleye are both deep-sea fish whose unusual facial features have confused observers for decades, but their specific anatomy differs.
| Faceless Fish | Barreleye | |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Typhlonus nasus | Macropinna microstoma |
| Eyes | Extremely reduced, buried beneath skin | Functional, housed inside a transparent dome |
| Source of past confusion | No visible eyes at all | Nostrils mistaken for eyes |
| Mouth position | Underneath the body | Front-facing, typical position |
| Rediscovery gap | Over a century between sightings | Structure understood only in 2009 |
| Conservation status | Data Deficient | Not Evaluated |
| Population trend | Unknown | Unknown |
| Habitat | Ocean | Ocean |
Faceless Fish vs Barreleye: common questions
Do both the faceless fish and barreleye lack functional eyes?
No, only the faceless fish has genuinely reduced eyes buried beneath its skin, while the barreleye has fully functional tubular eyes, they are simply hidden inside a transparent dome on top of its head rather than externally visible in a typical position.
What caused confusion about each species' face?
The faceless fish appears to have no eyes at all from the front, while the barreleye's dark facial spots, which look like eyes, are actually nostrils, with the real eyes sitting inside a transparent dome, a mix-up not resolved until live specimens were filmed in 2009.
Which species has been observed less often, the faceless fish or the barreleye?
The faceless fish has the more extreme observation gap, going unrecorded alive for over a century after its first description, while the barreleye, though still rare, has been documented somewhat more consistently since its structure was properly understood.