Mirapinna

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Mirapinna esau is a very small, mysterious deep-sea fish from the Atlantic near the Azores. It is the only known member of its genus and belongs to the Cetomimidae family. Commonly called the hairy fish for its hair‑like skin filaments, Mirapinna esau grows to about 5.5 cm in length. Very little is known about its biology; Wheeler (1977) reported only one specimen, caught near the surface and thought to feed on copepods. The type location was north of the Azores at roughly 47°20'N, 22°30'W. Taxonomically, Mirapinna has been debated: it was once placed in Mirapinnidae, but later work linked it with Cetomimidae, and a 2009 study suggested it might actually be the larval stage of Procetichthys kreffti. Cetomimidae fishes are typically scaleless, have large mouths, and inhabit the deep, dark bathypelagic zone. There are no specific conservation measures for Mirapinna esau, and its IUCN status is Data Deficient due to the rarity of encounters and the challenges of studying deep-sea life.