<p>A research describes the new species as pancake batfishes, which live in waters either partially or fully. <br /><br />"One of the fishes we describe is completely restricted to the oil spill area," said John Sparks, curator of Ichthyology at the American Museum of Natural History. <br />"If we are still finding new species of fishes in the Gulf, imagine how much diversity - especially microdiversity - is out there that we do not know about."<br /><br />Pancake batfishes are members of the anglerfish family Ogcocephalidae, a group of about 70 species of flat bottom-dwellers that often live in deep, perpetually dark waters, says a release from the American Museum.<br /><br />Pancake batfishes have enormous heads and mouths that can thrust forward. This, combined with their ability to cryptically blend in with their surroundings, gives them an advantage for capturing prey.<br /></p>
<p>A research describes the new species as pancake batfishes, which live in waters either partially or fully. <br /><br />"One of the fishes we describe is completely restricted to the oil spill area," said John Sparks, curator of Ichthyology at the American Museum of Natural History. <br />"If we are still finding new species of fishes in the Gulf, imagine how much diversity - especially microdiversity - is out there that we do not know about."<br /><br />Pancake batfishes are members of the anglerfish family Ogcocephalidae, a group of about 70 species of flat bottom-dwellers that often live in deep, perpetually dark waters, says a release from the American Museum.<br /><br />Pancake batfishes have enormous heads and mouths that can thrust forward. This, combined with their ability to cryptically blend in with their surroundings, gives them an advantage for capturing prey.<br /></p>