Juvenile vermilions are bottom-dwelling--their blotchy coloration may provide some camouflage in this environment. This individual, about 6 cm., is just starting to acquire the adult coloration. Depth 17 m.
Xiphactinus was a large, 15 to 20 feet long predatory bony fish that lived in the Western Interior Sea, over what is now the middle of North America, during the Late Cretaceous. When alive, the fish would have resembled a gargantuan, fanged tarpon.