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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing grenadiers. These deep sea dwelling fish are also known as rattails. They get this common name from their elongated tails! Grenadiers live in oceans around the world from 650 to over 20,000 feet (200 to over 6,000 meters) below sea level. They're mostly benthic animals meaning they spend their time at the bottom of the water column, though some species are pelagic and swim in the open ocean. They have an erect first dorsal fin and a short second dorsal fin that extends to the end of their tail. Nearly all species lack a tail fin. Grenadiers live on continental slopes which is the part of the ocean's bottom that slopes into the abyss. They also live on continental shelves and in deep coral habitats. 

There's no sunlight where grenadiers live. They have huge eyes for detecting any light in the dark depths. They also produce their own light from an organ near their anus. This light is made from bacteria living inside the fish. The light may attract prey to them or be used for communication. These fish also have sensitive barbels on their chins which can detect prey along the ocean's bottom. Sometimes they use their snout like a shovel to dislodge prey and they can be seen swimming with their nose to the sediment to sense for a meal. Grenadiers are powerful predators and eat fish, crustaceans, cephalopods, and more, though some species are scavengers, too! 

Grenadiers have silvery, reflective scales and average about one to two feet (30.5-61cm) in length, though the largest species can be over three feet (91cm) long! Humans eat grenadiers and natural predators include beaked whales, fur seals, and dolphins.

Male rattails are described as having longer snouts than females which may indicate a role in courtship. Little is known of grenadier mating habits. They produce hundreds of thousands of eggs that contain a droplet of oil which helps them float upwards towards warmer parts of the ocean. Here the eggs hatch and the fish slowly mature, descending the continental slope as they age. It takes a long time for a grenadier to develop and some sources claim they can live to be over seventy years old. Some species reproduce only once in their lifetime before dying, but others are believed to spawn multiple times.

Like a toadfish, some grenadiers produce sounds by contracting muscles against their swim bladder. They're also known to travel alone or in groups!

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