Scientists have hardly ever seen anglerfish alive in their natural environment. That’s why this 2018 video, captured in the waters around Portugal’s Azores islands, had stunned deep-sea biologists. Learn more: https://scim.ag/34P #ScienceMagArchives | Science

Deep-sea anglerfish display one of the most extraordinary mating strategies in the animal kingdom—especially among species where males and females differ dramatically in size. In the vast darkness of the deep ocean, encounters are rare. To solve this, tiny males actively seek out much larger females and bite onto them. In many species, this attachment becomes permanent, triggering a process known as sexual parasitism. Once attached, the male’s tissues fuse with the female’s body. Over time, thei