pelagic

The usual hue of the living version is greenish-brown, according to John Ugoretz, pelagic fisheries and ecosystem program manager for the department.

Their analyses show that the rapid transition of ancestrally bottom-dwelling, or benthic, anglerfishes into open-ocean, or pelagic, habitats occurred during a period of major global warming 50 to 35 million years ago.

Millions of dollars are being spent on research and trial fisheries targeting abundant pelagic fish, such as lanternfish and bristlemouths, in Europe, particularly Norway.

"You see pelagic fishes like oceanic white tip sharks only 700 feet off the beach, when usually you have to go 20 miles out to find that species," Naylor said.

These declines are largely driven by decreases in the amounts of pelagic fish available for catch.