By conventional standards, the new species of fish discovered deep in the Gulf of Mexico is not beautiful.
Actually, by almost any standard, it's hideous.
But this spiky, snaggletoothed fish, a sea creature from somebody's nightmares, is adapted to the harsh world below 3,000 feet, where it was co-discovered by a scientist at Nova Southeastern University.
Deep-sea expert Tracey Sutton identified the species while studying sea life at extreme ocean depths in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010, the university announced Wednesday.
The new species, now named Lasiognathus dinema, was found as part of a research trawl that samples marine life at various ocean depths.