17 Facts About Demersal fish

Demersal fish, known as groundfish, live and feed on or near the bottom of seas or lakes .

Demersal fish fillets contain little fish oil, whereas pelagic fish can contain up to 30 percent.

Demersal fish can be divided into two main types: strictly benthic fish which can rest on the sea floor, and benthopelagic fish which can float in the water column just above the sea floor.

Benthopelagic Demersal fish have neutral buoyancy, so they can float at depth without much effort, while strictly benthic Demersal fish are denser, with negative buoyancy so they can lie on the bottom without any effort.

Benthic Demersal fish are denser than water, so they can rest on the sea floor.

Bodies of benthic Demersal fish are adapted for ongoing contact with the sea floor.

An example of a flabby Demersal fish is the cusk-eel Acanthonus armatus, a predator with a huge head and a body that is 90 percent water.

Deepwater benthopelagic Demersal fish are robust, muscular swimmers that actively cruise the bottom searching for prey.

Term bathydemersal fish is sometimes used instead of "deep water demersal fish".

Coastal demersal fish are found on or near the seabed of coastal waters between the shoreline and the edge of the continental shelf, where the shelf drops into the deep ocean.

Main diet of deep sea demersal fish is invertebrates of the deep sea benthos and carrion.

For example, different Demersal fish have different mouth sizes, which determines the size of the prey they can handle.

Cameras show that when a dead Demersal fish is placed on the bottom, vertebrate and invertebrate scavengers appear very quickly.

Deepest-living Demersal fish known, the strictly benthic Abyssobrotula galatheae, eel-like and blind, feeds on benthic invertebrates.

The Demersal fish were 30 centimetres long, and were darting about, using vibration sensors on their nose to catch shrimps.

Commercially important demersal food fish species include flatfish, such as flounder, sole, turbot, plaice, and halibut.

Deepwater benthopelagic Demersal fish are robust, muscular swimmers that actively cruise the bottom searching for prey.