RV Corella Fisheries Laboratory cooperated with the Admiralty Research Laboratory to identify fish detected by long-range sonar equipment installed at the Admiralty Experimental Station, Perranporth. The RV "Corella" was directed from the shore to an area some 65 km distant, that was returning a strong and extended echo. The "Corella" was able to correlate this target with shoals detected on a conventional echo sounder, and substantial catches of sprats were taken in the area using a midwater trawl. The RV "Corella" was used throughout the 1970s for pioneering studies on fish migration. Individual plaice ("Pleuronectes platessa") fitted with 300 kHz acoustic transponding
Demersal fish is pointed downwards; this is beneficial as their food is often below them in the substrate. Those bottom feeders with upward-pointing mouths, such as stargazers, tend to seize swimming prey. Benthic fish, sometimes called groundfish, are denser than water, so they can rest on the sea floor. They either lie-and-wait as ambush predators, maybe covering themselves with sand or otherwise camouflaging themselves, or move actively over the bottom in search for food. Benthic fish which can bury themselves include dragonets, flatfish and stingrays. Flatfish are an order of ray-finned benthic fishes which lie flat on the ocean floor. Examples are