Strange Creature Found On Russian Coastline Baffles Locals
Strange 'Prehistoric' Creature Pulled From Russian Pond Baffles Locals
'Great White Shark' Washes Ashore In The Bahamas; Officials Concerned As Locals Eat It
Sacred Seashell: Virgin Mary Washes Ashore Along Virginia Coast; 'I Have To Do Something With This'
Cayman Islands Vows to Make 'Safe' Stingray City Even Safer With New Laws
San Francisco Conservation Groups Collaborate And Hold Events To Save Sharks
Shark Attack Study Announced: Politics Of Bite Incidents Under Review
Whale Wars: Japanese Whalers Claim Antiwhaling Ship Bob Barker Rammed The Yushin Maru No. 3
A Scientific Milestone: Mexico’s First Artificial Insemination Dolphin Birth
A Sea Lion Goes Back To The Ocean: Happy Ending After Being Entangled In Fishing Line Then Rescued
Great White Shark Attacks Aussie Bait Boat; 'It was Bloody Huge'
Chinese Fisherman Serve Up World's Largest Shark Steak
Surfer's Shark Attack Story: A Biting Tale at Florida's 'Shark Bite Capital of the World'
Underwater Nude Model Bitten by Shark on Photo Shoot; 'We Push the Envelope'
Angler Pulls In Texas State Record Bull Shark: 512 Pounds, 9 Feet Long
Freak! Malaysian Fisherman Reels in Shark with 'Webbed Feet'
Strange Creature Found On Russian Coastline Baffles Locals
1063-pound, 12-foot 6-inch Mako Shark Hooked off Florida Coast May Be World Record
Florida Student Recounts Shark Attack, Shows Off Her Wound; 'There was blood'
Aussie Teen Hooks Record Black Marlin, Feeds it to Sharks; 'It was Pretty Cool'
The small sharp teeth are plainly visible
The long, eel-like tail tapers to a narrow point
Cayman Brac -- A strange looking sea creature washed up on the shores of Cayman Brac this weekend.
Layman Scott found the fish while walking along the beach early Sunday morning. It is roughly thirty inches long, more than half of which is a long, eel-like tail attached to a fish body. It has pale pink scales, pectoral fins, a dorsal fin and a small feathery fin on its belly.
Local fishermen say they have not seen a creature quite like this before. It has boney bristles all along its spine, right down to the tip of its tail and small sharp teeth, which curve slightly inward.
The sighting has been reported to the Department of Environment, but meanwhile, The Bracker and Little Caymanian is inviting readers to see if they can identify this fish.
source: http://caymannetnews.com
Reader Comments
36 people have commented so far.another example of nature hitting back. Misfit, genetic freak.......what if this thing bites. Maybe we can fish it heavily until they are all gone like everything else.
- rehwaldt · usa · Nov 22, 2006 @ 10:09pm
I'd say that this, indeed, is a mutation of either and Angler fish, or Puffer fish. The mutations may have made those teeth much smaller, and the Puffer fish idea relates to the size of it's body. This fish, if it could be found in the deeper waters would be truly an amazing sight as it's tail would provide information on how early fish may have initially began to swim.
- I'd like to be referred to as: Leet · Australia · Dec 7, 2006 @ 2:36am
try to get the dna and get other fish that look it and see if their dna are similar.
- Shanee' · Cayman · Dec 29, 2006 @ 3:54pm
It's a Ratfish
- Neale · Prince Georg, Canada · Jan 5, 2007 @ 4:24pm
Looks like some type of chimaera. Deep-sea fish. Note the proximity of trench depths around location where the fish was found.
- Rob · Boston,USA · Feb 11, 2007 @ 10:48am
no matter what it is, IŽd like to see that creature alive
- Sofie · Germany · Feb 16, 2007 @ 2:18am
Given its large eyes (better to pick up the weak light far beneath the surface of the ocean), large mouth, eel like tail, and pink color (deep sea creatures are often have reddish color. Because red light waves do not reach far past the surface of the water, and thus anything that is red is essentially invisible to larger predators at deep depths.) It makes sense that it was some sort of deep sea thing. They always seem to look rather monstrous, like this one.
- Jessie · Boston, USA · Feb 24, 2007 @ 10:27pm
ITS THE SECOND MORE OR LESS I HAVE SEEN IN MY LIFE TIMETHE FIRST ONE ALSO ON FOTO CAME OUT A 800M DEEP TROCH 150 MILES OUT OFF GRAN CANARY ISLAND AM PRETTY SURE ITS NOT A MUTATION I AM DEEP SEA SPORT FISHER LIVING NOW ON FIJI I HAVE CATCHED STRANGER LOOKING FISH THAN THIS ..TRUST ME...
- 72SWORDFISH · FIJI · Mar 24, 2007 @ 5:01pm
Whatever it is I am sure that all the countries will try to find one alive so they can kill it only to disect it, just like the giant squid just leave them alone and deal with the land animals that r in danger
- lottie · U.S.A · May 2, 2007 @ 9:03am
It's definitely from the deeper reaches of the ocean. I'm surprised it washed-up intact. Most fish wash-up half eaten, by then.
- Dilberto · Indio, USA · May 20, 2007 @ 3:10am
Looks like a bloated macrourid of which there are many genera and species, all deep water.
- ichthyos · USA · Jun 7, 2007 @ 8:12am
it does look like an eel got mixed with some species of chimarea fish or at least a puffer but its eyes tell of great depths and its strange coloring. its odd mouth looks like a giant lampray (i wonder if its naturaly bloated) and it has wierd scale shaping
- donald high · york ,usa · Jun 27, 2007 @ 12:35pm
This large species occurs right around the world in deep water. It was described in 1887 from an animal collected from the nearby Kermadec Islands , north of New Zealand . It is the second largest member of this diverse family of deep-sea fishes. Rattails get their name from their long narrow tail. Different species have very different head shapes, depending on their lifestyles. This large species has a rounded head and a mouth which faces forward to catch squid and fish that swim up off the seafloor. As in most other rattails, the males of this species have a special drum machine on their swim bladder that is used to attract females. They have to be careful though, as other fish like morid cods have hydrophones on their swim bladders to hunt down the sources of such noises.
- richard turner · uk · Jul 4, 2007 @ 10:01am
like all closed minded people all they want to do is kill something before we can study it! i am sure the thing does not bite nor does it hunt people! by the looks of the fish it appears it would live in very very deep water! very unlikey it would bite people! so before making a statement about killing them all learn first before killing!
- Tony · UAS · Jul 4, 2007 @ 5:12pm
i dont think its a mutation. i say its a new species that scientist haven't discovered but like scientist their going to want to disect it and try looking for more fish in the ocean just like it but its very fascinating that a fish like that has been spotted. usually people who see dead creatures on shore ignore it its pretty fascinating
- melissa · othello ,washington · Jul 7, 2007 @ 6:57pm
you guys are retarded, its just another odd deep sea fish, in paleontology i have seen far stranger things, and even in terms of deep sea creatures this is pretty normal.
- durkadurka · abugarib · Jul 11, 2007 @ 6:20pm
Obviously piece of "resurrected" Burges Shale.
- J. Selley · UK · Aug 3, 2007 @ 7:04am
i think it is some type of barracuda that has evolved over the years and is now a rare some thing you know i'll just call it a old style baricuda ANOTHER THERY :it is what the baricuda looked like thousnds of years ago or ANOTHER THERY: it went tha same as the barracuda but a ratfish
- kayla · texas rox!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! · Nov 24, 2007 @ 8:03pm
Saccopharynx ampullaceus is probably the species that this fish thing is,search it... normally this species is thin but it may have eaten a lot before dying.
- Gary-Ray · Vanburen Ar. · Nov 27, 2007 @ 12:51pm
Looks like a Giant Rattail
- Eric · Indianapolis, United States · Dec 22, 2007 @ 5:39pm
...It IS a rather large rattail you idiots...Eric seems to be the only one with a little sense around here....Genetic mutation because of human?...don't make me laugh, that takes hundreds of thousands of years...at the least
- Clavain · USA · Feb 7, 2008 @ 4:14pm
Hi, just saw a program , think it was called Lobster Wars and they talked and showed a fish that is now protected called a wolf fish, the gills are very delicate and they gave about 15 suggestions on how trawlers and fishing boats should treat the fish. They come in a variety of markings and are as ugly as the one shown.
- Janet Howard · Brougham, Canada · Feb 25, 2008 @ 5:45pm
Guys, Guys, Guys... This is CLEARLY a Giant Grenadier. Here's a link, if you doubt me. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Giant_grenadier.jpg MYSTERY SOLVED.
- Chris · North Vancouver, Canada · Mar 28, 2008 @ 6:37pm
It could be a mutated guppy sent to devour all of us by the evil leaders of Iran. Let's all flee. AAAHHHHH!!!!!
- Rollie · Phillipsburg · Apr 22, 2008 @ 5:31am
eh its just a rat fish found deep down in the ocean iv seen them before alive as well its not mutated just odd is all
- clayton · perth australia · Jun 11, 2008 @ 7:25pm
I agree with the Giant Grenadier comment
- Matthew · QLD, Australia · Jul 3, 2008 @ 8:15pm
wow thats really cool but weird to
- josh · England · Jul 8, 2008 @ 1:37am
It is a rat fish
- tom · england · Sep 14, 2008 @ 1:33pm
I think that tail looks kinda like an eels. It's weird ,but,cool.
- claudia hackett · pentwater, USA · Oct 17, 2008 @ 10:24am
does no one pay attention? The fish washed up on shore, was not killed, so quit yer whining about killing the poor fishies. also Several sources are able to tell you the name of the fish. RATFISH. accept it, these are not aliens, just bizarre creations that you have yet to experience. it s a VERY DEEP SEA fish, meaning YOU AREN'T likely to see it, are you? there are much stranger things out there, that may never be discovered. This HAS been.
- manda · Amherstburg, CANADA · Nov 4, 2008 @ 11:21pm
it's RATTAIL, not RATFISH: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rattail
- Jimmy · USA · Dec 18, 2008 @ 10:23am
cool. It look abit scary. lol. It is a deep-sea fish. Deep-sea fish are usually ugly........... no. Very Very ugly.
- usa roxs lol · somewhere · Feb 11, 2009 @ 3:23am
awesome looking fish but kinda weird...
- ben johnson · toronto, canada · Apr 26, 2009 @ 11:29am
im sure ive seen this fish before in cornwall but it wasnt as long and it looked a bit more like a monkfish but it had the same tail and everything.
- usayd · birmingham · May 30, 2009 @ 2:53am
Why is it 'up' here?
- Bill · USA · Jan 22, 2010 @ 8:39pm
i thnk this thing scares me!!!! it is kind of cool although after u just ate haliabut it does not agree with your stomach!!!!!!! please do not show pics unless it is in the pics "file" thnx
- cary · new brunswick · Jan 23, 2010 @ 11:55am