6/20/2023 0 Comments Football fish![]() “I think it’s a beautiful fish,” he said. Jay Beiler, who recently chanced upon one on Black’s Beach, told news outlets, “It’s the stuff of nightmares.” Some find the fish’s appearance off-putting. They also have sharp teeth that angle inward in their mouth - ensuring that what goes in doesn’t come out. “They’re pretty much these spheres …covered in little spines,” which help ward off attacks from would-be predators. “They’re so much stockier” than other anglerfish, which come in many shapes and sizes, Frable said. Though the fish itself is quite common, it’s hardly ever found outside that environment. The type of angler fish normally lives more than 2,000 feet below the surface, in pitch-black water. (Anglerfish exhibit what’s known as extreme sexual dimorphism: The males are much smaller than their female counterparts.) What is believed to be a Pacific football fish was found at the Crystal Cove State Park, according to the park’s Instagram page. ![]() It’s also one of the biggest species of anglerfish, with large females measuring about 12 to 15 inches. □ /0uykGvpy9a- Scripps Institution of Oceanography December 15, 2021 Scientists don’t know exactly what it eats, how it reproduces - or what might be driving the cluster of sightings.Įxperts don’t have any evidence to theorize why several deep-sea fish have washed ashore recently, but are interested in learning more about the specimens that have been collected, as well as any new ones that might wash up. With less than three dozen dead specimens available to study, very little is known about the fish that lives in depths of roughly 1,000 to 3,000 feet. ![]() They have discussed the curious occurrence, “but it’s hard to jump to any conclusions about why this is happening,” he said. The museum has four of the species in its collection, including one found by a beachgoer in Newport Beach in May.Įvery time one washes ashore, Ludt said, he’s inundated with calls from friends and colleagues. “It is very strange, and it’s the talk of the town among us California ichthyologists,” or zoologists who study fish, said Bill Ludt, assistant curator of ichthyology at the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum. One was photographed last month near Black’s Beach in La Jolla but disappeared - potentially carried back to sea - before scientists were notified. But in only the last year, three of the creatures have washed up on California beaches, doubling the number of sightings on record in the state. ![]() Only 31 collected specimens are known to exist in the world, and the fish has never been observed in the wild, Frable said. ![]()
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