Bottomwalkers

Bottomwalkers are a type of deep-sea fish characterized by their adaptation to living and feeding on the ocean floor. These fish possess specific physical traits that aid in their benthic lifestyle. Commonly, they have flattened bodies, which allows them to rest unobtrusively on the seabed, and often possess enlarged mouths and protrusible jaws to capture prey from their surroundings. Their coloration is typically subdued, ranging from browns and grays to black, providing camouflage against the dark seafloor.

Locomotion for bottomwalkers is often achieved through pectoral fins that are modified for walking or crawling along the substrate, rather than for sustained swimming in the water column. This method of movement conserves energy in the nutrient-scarce deep-sea environment. Their sensory systems are also adapted to the low-light conditions of the deep ocean, with some species having reduced vision and relying more on other senses such as touch and chemoreception to detect prey and navigate.

Bottomwalkers occupy a variety of ecological niches within the deep-sea benthos, with some being predators that ambush prey, while others are scavengers or detritivores, feeding on organic matter that sinks from upper ocean layers. Their distribution is widespread across the world's oceans, found in various deep-sea habitats including abyssal plains, continental slopes, and even hydrothermal vents. Due to the challenges of studying these environments, much remains to be discovered about the specific biology and behavior of many bottomwalking species.