The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute recently solved the half-century-old mystery of a fish with tubular eyes and a transparent head. This is the barreleye fish, or Macropinna microstoma.
Amazing article and pictures, accompanied by a cool video.
“A new paper by Bruce Robison and Kim Reisenbichler shows that these unusual eyes can rotate within a transparent shield that covers the fish’s head,” says the site. “This allows the barreleye to peer up at potential prey or focus forward to see what it is eating.”
Why not? Don’t we all like to see what we are eating?