Wed, April 27th, 2011
Rarest Catches
72 percent of the Earth is covered in water and in our six ocean realms, (the human
edges, hidden boundaries, light and dark zones of the central waters, active geology,
ice and microscopic) all kinds of species, from the known, unknown to the unknowable
have garnered the interest of fisherman and marine experts alike. While a boat license may allow you to operate motorized watercrafts of all kinds, there are certainly no licenses for catching any of these rare species!
According to the
Census of Marine Life, several hundred thousand species exist in the bottom
water and many may remain unknowable.
Many species may never be caught and named, but here's a look at some of the most
incredible and rare catches that human eyes have had the chance to see.
Megamouth Shark
Image source:
FLMNH
In April 2009, fishermen in the Philippines caught and later feasted on a 1,100-pound,
13-foot megamouth shark. The megamouth is one of the rarest fishes in the world
with only 40 others recorded, (now 41), according to the World Wildlife Fund.
The first megamouth was discovered in Hawaii in 1976, prompting scientists to create
a new family and genus of sharks. The discovery was hailed as the marine find of
the 20th century, rivaling the discovery of the coelacanth in the 1930s.
Characteristics: As their name implies, megamouths have a large mouth with
small teeth, and a broad, rounded snout. The mouth is surrounded by luminous photophores,
which may act as a lure for plankton or small fish. A relatively poor swimmer, the
megamouth has a soft, flabby body.
Dinofishy 'Coelacanth'
Image source:
ABC
Until its discovery in 1938 it was believed that the Coelacanth (pronounced 'see-la-canth')
became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous
period 65 million years ago. Four fishermen caught the rare fish off the
coast of Zanzibar, Tanzania in June 2007. It weighed 59.5 pounds and measured 4.4
feet.
Characteristics: Coelacanths are the only living animals to have a fully
functional intracranial joint, a division separating the ear and brain from the
nasal organs and eye. They have an extra lobe on the tail, paired lobed fins, and
a vertebral column that is not fully developed. One of the most unique features
of the Coelacanth, is that it has paired fins which move in a similar fashion to
our arms and legs.
Colossal Squid
In February 2007, a fishing boat sailing Antarctica's (southern) Ross Sea caught
the world's biggest known Colossal squid. Its scientific name is Mesonychoteuthis
hamiltoniia and this Kraken-like beast weighed a whopping 1,089 pounds and measured
33 feet in length. These rare, monstrous squids were first discovered in 1925, but
since then there have been very few sightings. The last colossal squid was caught
in 2003 in the same region as this one.
Characteristics: Colossal Squids come equipped with sharp swiveling or three-pointer
hooks on their tentacles to help gash and capture their prey. It feeds on prey using
bioluminescence (emitting light) It has a body that is wider and heavier than that
of a giant squid. In fact, the colossal is believed to be the largest squid species
in terms of mass.
A colossal squid's eye can be
as big as a dinner plate.
Image source:
Eco Tourism Blog
Fun Fact: The colossal squid would yield calamari rings the size of tractor
tires.
Large Sturgeon
Image source:
Ocean Leadership
Considered a living fossil, just this March, a Chinese sturgeon was caught accidentally
by a local in the province of Jiangxi. The sturgeon measured nearly 5 feet and weighed
45 pounds. These critically endangered species are thought to have lived 140 million
years ago with the dinosaurs.
Considered a living fossil, just this March, a Chinese sturgeon was caught accidentally
by a local in the province of Jiangxi. The sturgeon measured nearly 5 feet and weighed
45 pounds. These critically endangered species are thought to have lived 140 million
years ago with the dinosaurs.
Characteristics: Sturgeons lack a vertebral centrum, and have scutes (bony
plates) rather than scales. Though they lack teeth for seizing prey, they can swallow
fish as big as salmon. A grown-up sturgeon can measure up to 4 meters, and weigh
over 1,000 pounds.
Halieutichthys aculeatus (Pancake Batfish)
Image source:
National Geographic
In December 2010, a Tauranga, NZ fishing vessel caught one of the world's rarest
fish, known as the 'pancake batfish'. This handsome fellow is a relatively unknown
species, according to marine experts. One of the most remarkable aspects about the
rare catch was that they managed to keep the fish alive. The deep-sea, bottom dweller
had been pulled from a depth of about 350m when the Skipper caught a glimpse of
orange.
The two fishermen saw it kicking in the net so they put it in a bucket and rubbed
its stomach. Stomach-rubbing helps reduce the amount of oxygen in the fish's swim-bladder,
which expands when a fish is brought rapidly to the surface. Had the pressure not
been released from the stomach, the fish could have exploded and died.
Characteristics: These rare species are flat like a pancake and have arm-like
fins reminiscent of a walking bat when they waddle along the seafloor. The pancake
batfish inhabits a subtropical, sandy, reef-associated, and 45–820 m deep environment.
Two new species of batfish were discovered in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, in the
region directly affected by the BP oil spill.
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