Creepy fish found washed ashore on Lopez Island

[nwscubamom]

So we've been having extremely low tides the past few days, and this afternoon I wandered down to the beach just off our place on Lopez Island near Fisherman Bay. I saw something shiny down by the waterline, but thought it was metal of some sort. It was long and glinting in the sunlight. As I got closer, I realized it was a very long fish...and what a weird one it is!!!

An Oregonian had sent a photo of one to me recently that he'd seen washed up along the Oregon Coast...but Lopez?? I didn't know what it was, but Andy Lamb later ID'd it. So you can imagine I was surprised to find one just like it, washed up on my beach a few months later...

This fish seems suited for very deep waters and I think it's a Longnose Lancetfish, but I could be wrong. Anyway, VERY sharp teeth, and a real oddity to see washed up on the shores here.

- Janna

[coachrenz]

Did you step into the water and count record it on a REEF survey?

What is the code for that thing, just in case I see one someday?

[Sounder]

Creepy. Any more information on them?

[Sounder]

A quick Wiki search revealed a bit of information on them - seems they're generally bycatch when fishing for other species. Some interesting stuff, but not a whole lot of information. Apparently their meat is watery and gelatinous but there is anecdotal evidence suggesting that they have an aphrodisiac side-effect from consuming their meat.

Are you suddenly feeling romantic Janna?

[Scott G]

For some reason, we get them every year, washed up on the beach, just before the salmon start cruising by... King of the Salmon (a relative i think) often show up (again just one or two) just prior to that as well.

Every year, just one or two, just like clockwork... either the weirdest coincidence or some curiosly complex life plan.

I checked the stomach of one last year... filled with tapeworms... would be interesting to hear if you checked this one.

Scott

[nwscubamom]

Good info! No, I didn't test the stomach contents - I was too fascinated by the sharp teeth! This looked like something straight out of the deep sea portion of Finding Nemo!

- Janna

[Chevayea]

Wow, that thing is really cool. I would love to learn more about them.

[Greg Jensen]

From Hart: The anatomy of the longnose lancetfish shows it to be hermaphroditic- both sexes to be in one individual- and there is speculation about whether this is associated with solitary living. Lancetfish are apparently voracious, the diet including, in California, pelagic molluscs and crustacea, marine worms, coelenterates, salps, squid, octopus, and elsewhere hatchetfishes, lanternfishes, hake, rockfishes, agonids, other lancetfish, Gilbertidia, and spiny lumsuckers.(!) Curiously, in spite of the formidable mouth ingested food organisms seem to be little damaged. It is a good source of biological specimens, for example, the second Canadian record for Allocyttus* sp. was from the stomach of a longnose lancetfish. Lancetfish in turn are fed upon by opah (not Oprah- or at least, not that we know of), sharks, albacore and yellowfin tunas, and fur seals. They are sometimes taken on halibut longline gear. Pelagic or possibly bathypelagic in Atlantic and Pacific from near surface to 700 fathoms (1280 m).

*This is an oreo. The fish, not the cookie (though the latter probably are eaten by Oprah)

[Chevayea]

Nice reference. I did a Wiki search on lancetfish and it gave about the same info that you provided. I had no idea we had anything like that here.

Okay, add this to my list of things that creep me out.

[nwscubamom]

Looks like some friends just found one while in Neah Bay, and here's a news article about one sighted in California:

(10-27) 18:43 PDT Gualala -- A bizarre, rare fish that washed up on the Sonoma County coast raised a mystery.

The fish was three feet long, with an extended mouth and long, curved teeth like a barracuda. It also resembled a sail, like a marlin. It was discovered by Rich and Diane Dow of Greenbrae, who were visiting the resort area of Sea Ranch.

"We found this fish washed up on the beach," said Rich, who photographed it. "It was almost three feet long."

The mystery was solved by Carrie Wilson of the Department of Fish and Game, who identified the fish as a long-nose lancetfish.

"They are wild looking," Wilson said. "I've see these every so often. They show up on the beach very rarely."

A lancetfish is a deep-water dwelling fish and very unusual, Wilson said. "They have been called, 'the wolves of the sea' and are the largest of the deep-sea predatory fish."

They can live 6,000 feet deep and can grow to six feet long. They have two fangs, something like that of a prehistoric sabertooth tiger. "They eat whatever they can find," Wilson said. "The only thing they fear are sharks, tuna and sea lions, if they choose to rise to shallower waters."

The DFG does not see these fish very often, but when they do, it's most often when someone finds one washed up on the beach.

- Janna