And those glowy patches? Those are its retinas/eyes. This creature lives at such depths that conventional image forming eyes aren't so useful.

The middle ridge allows some direction determination (shadows) & the supersize retinas give high sensitivity. https://twitter.com/FishGuyKai/status/1282827050122792961

I've periodically tried to use 3D ray-tracer software to help illustrate the function of such deep-sea fish eyes. I haven't gotten it to work quite right yet.

I'm not entirely sure about their color, but I suspect a surface pigment layer is acting as a filter to improve contrast for some specific prey-emitted light frquency.

Fish have an awesome sensory channel we don't have, called the lateral line system. It lets them feel the movement of very small water currents around them.

With this, the reduced visual resolution (with incredible sensitivity) of these fish (genus Ipnops) works out.

I suspect the elongated, slim body with minimal fins and the habit of laying still on the bottom would give the lateral line system extra sensitivity.

All together, it makes for an unexpectedly amazing little fish.

A paper from 1952 settled conclusively that those patches are modified eyes. Before then, there was some debate if they were eyes or phosphorescent organs. https://docplayer.net/95185093-The-eyes-of-ipnops-m-irrayi.html

Amazing. Figure 2A shows a structure that is suggestive of the retinas of Ipnops being shaped into a grid of tiny cups instead of a flat surface.

Those tiny cups could function as do the individual lenses of a dragonfly compound eye. This would give the animal a better visual resolution than is suggested by the overall geometry.

I'd really like to see some modern histology of these eyes!

Now I really need to get my eye sinulatiob software functioning. If only I didn't have more pressing tasks!