(Intro)

Did you know that about 70 percent of our planet is covered by water? That's more than half the world we live in, and the oceans are just full of all kinds of amazing living things. We've already told you about animals like dolphins, and penguins, and even the blob fish, but have you ever heard of the anglerfish?

OK, prepare yourself. This is an anglerfish. Yikes! There are more than two hundred different kinds of anglerfish, and most of them can be found in some of the deepest waters in the world, especially in the Atlantic Ocean.

The anglerfish gets its name from a long strand that grows from it's head, called a lure, and it uses the lure like a fishing rod, sort of. The end of the lure actually glows like a light bulb, and it's light attracts other curious fish right into the mouth of the anglerfish. This makes the anglerfish a fish that kind of fishes.

But that glowing lure isn't the only thing that makes anglerfish so special. For example, I mentioned that anglerfish live deep in the ocean, but many of these animals live in the coldest, deepest layer of the ocean, known as the midnight zone. As you might have guessed from its name, the midnight zone is completely dark. That's because this layer of the ocean is so deep that it gets no sunlight. So, the only light that animals see down there is the special light that is given off by certain living things, like the anglerfish with it's glowing lure. And when some deep sea creatures, like little fish, see the light of that lure they swim up to get a better look.

Which leads us to another cool thing about anglerfish, with the help of their lure, they're really, really good hunters. Anglerfish often hide in the sand and stick out their lure, and then wait for their prey. Once another animal gets close enough, then chomp!

And, a really neat thing is, anglerfish can eat animals twice their size. How can they fit something that big into their bellies? Well, anglerfish have huge mouths, and really flexible stretchy bodies. So they can swallow a whole lot, and almost nothing can eat an anglerfish. They have very few predators that we know about.

Do you want to know one more cool thing about anglerfish? The girls really rule. Only the female anglerfish have that special lure on top of their heads. The females are also much bigger than the males, and males are sometimes as small as your pointer finger. In fact, they are so tiny that the females carry the males around. This is because the males can't feed themselves when they become adults. So, they have to latch onto a female by biting her and holding on with their teeth. Some females have been seen carrying up to six males at a time. Nice work, ladies.

So now you know, anglerfish are deep dwelling, glow-in-the-dark, A-plus hunters, and anglerfish are just some of the fascinating creatures that live in our amazing oceans. Which ones do you want to learn about next? And if you would like us to dive deep for more information about ocean animals, or anything else, just let us know by getting help from a grownup and leaving a comment below or emailing us at kids@thescishow.com. Thanks for joining us, and we'll see you next time.