Opah with bright colored fins

Opahs, ribbonfishes, tube-eyes, inkfishes, unicornfishes and other relatives are very rare and strange looking group with big mouths that live in the deep ocean. Many have bright orange to crimson colored fins while the body can also be bright colored or else a silver or silver-blue color. Many are long and slender like the oarfish, the longest fish of all fish. The opah, also sometimes called moonfish, is more oval in shape. The mouth and structure of the jaw is unique in these fish in that top part of the jaw extends outward allowing them to open their mouths up to 40 times the size of the mouth at rest. Once they open their big mouths, they suck in microscopic plants and animals or plankton to eat. There are some in this group that are rarely seen and some whose meat is inedible.

The opah is more common in some areas and considered a tasty fish. It can also grow quite large 600 lbs (275 kg) and has a big appetite. One was once found with the 63 fish, 8 cephalopods (squids and octopus) and 7 crabs in its stomach.

Ribbonfish