The Tube Eye

Also known as a thread-tail, Stylephorus chordatus is a rare deep-sea fish so unusual, the single species is alone in an entire taxonomic order. To put this in perspective, all the worlds cats, dogs, bears, raccoons, ferrets, and their relatives belong to one order, the Carnivora. Imagine if none of those existed except for one rare species of weasel in all the world, and you have a situation much like the tube-eyes. Despite its names, the strangest thing about this animal is probably its mouth. Except for one tiny, tubular opening, its jaws are fused together by an expandable bag of skin, functioning exactly like a set of bellows, or an accordian. By expanding the bag, it creates a powerful suction through that tiny, tubular opening to slurp up minute, planktonic crustaceans. This same maneuver also bugs out its eyeballs and twists them forward, like a set of binoculars, focusing in on its incredibly small prey.