Gen Zs are literally sobbing over viral video of ‘small but mighty’ anglerfish: ‘We are so proud’
Was it Finding Emo?
Just when you thought it was safe to go back on TikTok: Gen Zers are crying an ocean over the saga of a small anglerfish that perished shortly after swimming to the surface, as seen in TikTok videos with millions of views.
“I can’t stop crying about this small but mighty fish,” TikTok user Kaleigh described.
She was referring to the now-viral footage of a female black sea devil — a toothsome predator that resides as deep as 6,500 feet down — that was filmed swimming in the shallows off Tenerife in the Canary Islands last month.
This marked the first time this six-inch denizen of the deep had reportedly been observed so close to the surface– making it somewhat of the Sir Edmund Hilary of the fish world.
Alas, the little gal died shortly after its journey to the top, but scientists were nonetheless stunned over the marine milestone.
“When I first saw the video, I honestly didn’t believe what I was seeing,” said Kory Evans, a fish biologist at Rice University in Houston Texas. “I thought it was A.I.”
However, their reaction paled in comparison to many Gen Zers, who were literally moved to tears over the little angler that could.
“Look how tiny she was and she swam that great distance,” bawled Kaleigh in the aforementioned clip. “She just swam all that way on her own and I’m just picturing her swimming up and up and up. And she was so little. And she did that all on her own.”
The inconsolable content creator continued, “what do you think she was thinking? Was she proud of herself?”
Commenters were quick to join her in mourning with one crestfallen fan writing, “She doesn’t even know she’s an icon.”
“I hope she knows a bunch of humans are so proud of her, even though it’s sad,” choked another marine mourner.
“She was headed into the light,” said a third.
Not everyone shared their sentiment, however.
In another clip filmed on Valentine’s Day, TikTokker Savanahh Belle tried to relay the fin-spiring saga to her boyfriend between sobs, only to get ridiculed for falling to pieces over such an “ugly” animal.
In other words, he wanted to let her know that there were other fish in the sea.
While her reaction might seem like over-gill, some psychologists saw the fish’s ascent as a metaphor for the human experience.
‘The anglerfish has spent its entire life in the deep, dark ocean, a place of survival and isolation,” psychotherapist Dr. Nivedita Nayak told the Metro. “Now, it is swimming toward something brighter, something unknown, even though it will not survive the journey.”
She added, “It speaks to endurance, resilience, and the idea of moving toward something greater, no matter the cost. Many people see themselves in that struggle, and it resonates on an emotional level.”
Symbolism aside, scientists are unsure why this aquatic Icarus swam so close to the sun. However, Bruce Robison, a senior scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, believes that there are a few possible explanations.
He theorized that it could’ve ingested a fish with a swim bladder or gas gland, which kept expanding and propelling him to the surface like a fish floatie. It was also possible that fish became trapped in a rising column of warm water created by underwater fissures in the famously volcanic region.
There are reportedly over 200 species of deep-sea anglerfish, which are named for their fleshy, bioluminescent head protuberance that they use to lure unsuspecting prey.
And their looks aren’t the only nightmarish thing about them. The male anglerfish is a sexual parasite that impregnates the female by fusing itself to her body and pumping her with sperm like a lecherous lamprey.
