'Fragile' Gen Z are left in floods of tears over bizarre-looking 'demon fish' which died after swimming to the surface

Gen Z are inconsolable after discovering the tragic story of an anglerfish days after a rare sighting in Tenerife. The terrifying-looking black demon fish, that lurks underwater at depths between200 and 2,000 metres, was spotted by scientists at the surface exploring the waters off the coast of Tenerife last week. However, the story of the tiny fish with a black body and a mouth full of fangs has captured the hearts of TikTokers all over the world after they heard it died shortly after swimming to the surface.

Kaleigh, from Chicago, took to social media in floods of tears as she wondered if the fish was 'proud of herself.'. In a clip, which racked up over 4.6 million views, she said: 'I can't stop crying about this small but mighty fish. 'Look how tiny she was and she swam that great distance, 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?'. Many related to the creator's emotions and took to the comments section to sympathise with the story. Gen Z are crying over viral video of a 'small but mighty' anglerfish-with some saying they are 'so proud' of the sea creature. One person said: 'Having empathy is so weird cause here some of us are, sobbing over this fish, and others are calling us insane'.

Another added: 'I will never trust a person who doesn't get emotional over this fish. This is now the basis of all my friendships.'. Someone else said: 'She was dying but in that moment she lived'. Belle Perez, who is from Australia but lives in London, shared an illustration of the fish by TikTok creator @sydbecrafty which read: 'And for my last day... I will go see the sun.'. She captioned the clip: 'So so beautiful but so f**king sad I'm too fragile for this today!!'.

In another clip TikTokker Savanahh Belle, from the US, tried to relay the fish saga to her boyfriend between sobs as he asked in disbelief 'this is not about a f**king anglerfish.'. Bawling Savanahh added: 'Well, you know they live in the ocean and only produce light themselves, there was an anglerfish that swam to the surface in broad daylight and died.'. Social media user Frankie shared a video of the fish swimming to the surface, which gained over 75,000 views.

She captioned the video: 'The fact that this anglerfish travelled over 200 miles from the dark, swimming over two weeks straight to see the light really makes me sad.'. So so beautiful but so fckn sad I’m too fragile for this today!! Illustration credit: @sydney :/ #anglerfish #hopecore #sadcore. Kaleigh, from Chicago , took to social media in floods of tears as she wondered if the fish was 'proud of herself'.

In another clip TikTokker Savanahh Belle, from the US, tried to relay the fish saga to her boyfriend between sobs as he asked in disbelief 'this is not about a f**king anglerfish'. Social media user Frankie shared a video of the fish swimming to the surface, which gained over 75,000 views. Many related to the creator's emotions and took to the comments to sympathise with the story. Dr. Nivedita Nayak, a psychologist and psychotherapist, claimed that perhaps people are seeing themselves in the little anglerfish story which is the reason they are getting emotional.

Speaking to Metro, she said: 'The anglerfish has spent its entire life in the deep, dark ocean, a place of survival and isolation. '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.'.

The anglerfish video was first shared by David Jara Boguna, a scientist with Condrik Tenerife, on Instagram. 'This could be the first recorded sighting in the world of a black demon or adult abyssal (Melanocetus johnsonii) alive, in broad daylight and on the surface!!' he wrote. 'A legendary fish that few people will have had the privilege of observing alive.'. The species has a dark brown or black body, and a large mouth that's nearly vertical - with long pointed teeth.

A post shared by David Jara Boguñá 🐬 (@jara.natura). Given its menacing appearance, it probably comes as no surprise that the species is capable of eating prey even larger than itself. Usually, the species lives in the meopelagic and bathypelagic zones, at depths of between 200 and 2,000 metres. 'It is a true predator of the depths, which lives in the seabed between 200 and 2,000m deep,' Mr Boguna wrote on Instagram.

'[It] uses its dorsal appendix filled with symbiotic bioluminescent bacteria as bait to lure its prey, in the same way as in the popular movie Finding Nemo.'. The researchers spotted the fish at the surface during an expedition off the coast of Tenerife last week. 'Emerging from the abyssal depths in vertical swimming, off just 2 km from the coast of Tenerife and during one of our pelagic shark research campaigns, @laiavlr spotted this creature on the surface,' Mr Boguna wrote.