An anglerfish spotted surfacing in Tenerife has made waves on social media after the “sea devil” swam to its death.
Social media users are prone to getting attached to viral animals. There have been many instances where animals have blown up on X, TikTok, and Instagram for being cute or chonky.
For example, viral Instagram stars like Peanut the squirrel, the male eastern grey squirrel who was loved by millions before his untimely euthanization.
There’s also Moo Deng, the Pygmy hippopotamus who was born in Thailand and soon became an international celebrity for her rebellious nature.
You might also remember Pesto, the king penguin from Melbourne, Australia, who was absolutely massive compared to other baby penguins in the aquarium.
pesto the baby penguin that is BIGGER THAN BOTH ITS PARENTS pic.twitter.com/0my9bgNPKG
undefined 💖 (@twaniimals) September 29, 2024
There was something in common with all of these animals. They’re pretty cute. But the latest creature making people weep might be one of the ugliest critters alive.
A video of an anglerfish surfacing in Tenerife was caught and instantly plastered all over social media.
This could be the world's first recorded sighting of a live adult black devil or anglerfish (Melanocetus johnsonii), a deep sea creature in broad daylight and on the surface!!😱 pic.twitter.com/ZtPh3avZbV
undefined Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) February 7, 2025
What’s remarkable about this sight is that anglerfish live very deep in the ocean, usually in total darkness.
The predator only has access to light that they create themselves and use it to entice their prey close to their monstrous mouths.
But, this female anglerfish was caught surfacing potentially due to illness or injury that may have been her cause of death.
Social media went into an emotional frenzy after hearing of the death of this “sea devil,” some users were even seen crying hysterically over the passing of the anglerfish.
Someone said “she finally saw a light she didn’t create” 😭 💔
undefined refinnej (@justplainjenn) February 15, 2025
A TikTok video went viral of a woman hysterically crying while explaining the story of the anglerfish to her boyfriend.
“This isn’t about a f**king anglerfish!” Her boyfriend cried out as she continued weeping into her phone.
I’m both laughing AND crying!
undefined Tammy Grabel 💰 (@TammyGrabel) February 17, 2025
😫🤣
Upset lady attempts to explain the Angler Fish story to her boyfriend and it’s got me 😭 #anglerfish pic.twitter.com/EtFGb9g9Ar
The emotional reactions didn’t stop there, as one person wrote on X: “Me crying over every post I come across about this anglerfish (for the last two days).”
me crying over every post i come across about this anglerfish (for the last two days) pic.twitter.com/Z3h4lhiWUd
undefined henna ☾ (@hennasam) February 15, 2025
Another person also said that they had been supposedly crying over the anglerfish for two hours.
I've spent two hours crying over this anglerfish on tiktok this morning https://t.co/PqWUNqWgdx pic.twitter.com/0mtbVq35FH
undefined ruru (@bakedubicilembu) February 16, 2025
Users even made comic strips and animated videos of the anglerfish’s final moments, claiming that all she wanted to do was see the sun.
All the memes and what not about this #anglerfish are killing me!! I'm gonna crash out man!! pic.twitter.com/Q02lJW8Oyo
undefined ThatBishGigglez (@BishGiggles) February 17, 2025
Why did this fish go viral?
News of the anglerfish’s death went viral first on TikTok and spread to other platforms like X and Instagram.
The algorithm is one reason things go viral, and TikTok’s algorithm is among the most addictive and aggressive, pushing content on its users.
TikTok prioritizes engaging content and focuses on watch time to get the video out to those who will watch it based on their user interactions.
These interactions, otherwise known as “filter bubbles” that result from our digital footprint, include factors like our browsing history, likes, comments, shares, clicks, and swipes, which push relevant content out to your feed.
All of these factors determine what we see online.
This means that the more you like certain things, the more they will be recommended to you and potentially to others.
Ease of sharing is also a factor as social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram make it easy to share videos with others, helping to create that viral moment.
Furthermore, things that likely evoke strong emotions, like the death of a female anglerfish, can be another cause for something to go viral.
People likely felt strongly toward this dying sea creature, which turned out to be very small and kinda cute.
So, this unlikely phenomenon, mixed with the emotional attachment people felt to the animal, might be why the “ugly fish” went viral on social media.
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