Barrel Eye Fish
Macropinna microstoma
A clear head hides swiveling green eyes.
The barreleye peers through a transparent, fluid-filled shield over its head. Its glowing green tube-shaped eyes can point upward for searching or forward for eating.
Find this SeaPal in the card gallery
From field guide to game table
Bring this Barrel Eye Fish home
See which ready-to-play decks feature this SeaPal. Try one in the simulator before you buy, or explore each full deck list.
- 2 copies
Ready-to-play deck
Darkness Shroud Deck
Includes 2 cards featuring Barrel Eye Fish.
Quick dive
Creature passport
- Home
- It hovers in North Pacific midwater, usually about 600 to 800 meters deep.
- Favorite foods
- It eats tiny crustaceans and animals caught among jelly-like siphonophores.
- Size check
- About 6 in (15 cm)—roughly pencil-length
Tell-your-friends facts
Four wonderfully wild things
- 1
The two dark dots above its mouth are smell organs, not eyes.
- 2
Green pigment in the eyes filters the faint light from above.
- 3
Broad flat fins let it hover almost perfectly still.
- 4
Scientists first filmed its living transparent head in the wild in 2004.
Ocean superpower
Built to be amazing
Rotating tubular eyes scan above and then swing forward for a meal.
Junior scientist tip
What should I look for?
Find the clear head dome with two bright green cylinders inside.
Grown-up research links
We used trusted science organizations to check this profile.