Talk about a fish out of water!
An odd-looking fish spotted on Vancouver Island lit up social media this week.
On Tuesday, Campbell River area resident Rachel Bell posted images of the shark-like creature 鈥� which has since been identified as a ratfish, a glowing and boneless specimen normally found deep under the sea 鈥� to social media.
鈥淐an anyone tell me wtf this thing is?鈥� Bell said in the Facebook post.
In the photos, the two-foot long fish appears to be writhing around in shallow water on a sandy beach. It has bulging turquoise-coloured eyes and white spots covering its long, slender rat-like tail.
More than 70 people from the Facebook community soon responded, most of them in agreement that it was a ratfish or spotted ratfish, known among scientists as Hydrolagus colliei.
Some also suggested 鈥渘uclear fish,鈥� 鈥淕odzilla baby鈥� and 鈥渁lien fish that鈥檚 supposed to be in the dark deep depths of the ocean.鈥�
Dr. Jim Powell, a fish expert and CEO of the Centre for Aquatic Health Sciences in Campbell River, examined the photos for the Mirror and confirmed what dozens of online observers already knew: it鈥檚 a ratfish.
鈥淗ydrolagus colliei,鈥� said Powell after viewing the images on Wednesday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a male,鈥� he said, pointing to a set 鈥渃laspers鈥� protruding from its underside.
The ratfish, a relative to the shark, has a skeleton made of cartilage 鈥� it 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 have a bone in its body,鈥� he said. It鈥檚 not a very common sight on the shore, because it鈥檚 a deep-water fish.
The species doesn鈥檛 have a swim bladder, so if it doesn鈥檛 swim, it sinks, he said.
He declined to speculate on how it ended up on the beach, but said it might have something to do with its health or age.
Powell, a scuba diver, said the glowing fish are often spotted underwater at night.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e beautiful, to see them underwater and see them swimming,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e just gorgeous because of their iridescence and that large eye, and they really do glow.鈥�
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Bell told Black Press that she snapped the photos around noon on Jan. 14 while walking her dogs at Saratoga Beach, near Campbell River.
The fish was about two feet long, she said, and it appeared to have washed up on the shore alive. Someone tried to roll it back into the sea, and Bell pushed it into deeper water.
To avoid a spike on its top dorsal fin, she used her gumboots and the plastic handle of a retractable leash to move the fish, she said.
鈥淚 believe it fully regained strength and swam away,鈥� Bell said in a Facebook message. 鈥淢ade me feel pretty good.鈥�
| Vancouver Island resident Rachel Bell captured this photo of a spotted ratfish before pushing the odd-looking creature back into the water on Jan. 14 at Saratoga Beach, near Campbell River. |
The spotted ratfish, which has a venomous spine, occurs throughout the northeast coastal sections of the Pacific Ocean, from southern Alaska to Baja California, at .
Its numbers are increasing, and it鈥檚 considered a , according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature鈥檚 Red List of Threatened Species.
It鈥檚 from a group of fish known as chimaera or chimera 鈥� a name about a creature that resembles a .
The spotted ratfish is the only type of chimaera in Canadian Pacific fisheries waters, according to a published by Fisheries and Oceans Canada in 2007.
鈥淩atfish are a common bycatch (about 700 tonnes per year) within the commercial trawl fishery for skates,鈥� a type of ray, according to the document. 鈥淪ince ratfish are of no commercial value, they are discarded at sea.鈥�
The are also called ghost sharks. The earliest chimaera fossil specimen, a skull, is dated to about 280 million years ago, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.
The ancient lineage of the ratfish shows, Powell said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely prehistoric looking, isn鈥檛 it?鈥�
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