A fisherman in Norway has caught a very bizarre fish that literally seems otherworldly in origin. The alien-looking creature has large eyes, and it has a bizarre body shape when compared to other known fishes. Interestingly, the eyes of this fish were smaller than its body, a unique characteristic used by Hollywood filmmakers to depict alien creatures on screen.
This catch of a lifetime was made by a fisherman named Oscar Lundahl. The young man was reportedly fishing for blue halibut off the coast of the island of Andoya in Norway when he made this unexpected catch. A report published in The Sun reveals that Lundahl was fishing at a depth of 800 meters below the surface at that time before making this discovery.
"We were looking for blue halibut which is a rare species about five miles offshore. I had four hooks on one line and felt something quite big on the end of it. It took me about 30 minutes to reel it in because it was 800 meters deep. There were two halibut on two of the hooks and I was really happy about that and then I saw there was something else," Lundahl told the Sun.
Lundahl also added that he has never seen a creature like this before, and suggested that the fish looked more like a living being from the Jurassic era.
However, one of Lundahl's colleagues soon solved the mystery, and he revealed that it is actually a ratfish. The Latin name of ratfish is Chimaeras Monstrosa Linnaeus, a name derived from a Greek mythical monster, that had the head of a lion and tail of a deadly dragon.
Experts reveal that ratfishes are a distant relative of sharks and has been living in the depths of oceans for more than 300 million years. As these fishes live in the depths of the oceans, they are very rarely caught.
Lundahl also made it clear that the fish was really tasty despite its odd appearance.
