Massive, rare fish from South Pacific washes ashore in Oregon

A massive rare fish thought to only live in temperate waters in the southern hemisphere has washed up on Oregon’s northern coast, drawing crowds of curious onlookers intrigued by the unusual sight.

The 7.3-foot (2.2 meter) hoodwinker sunfish first appeared on the beach in Gearhart on Monday, the Seaside Aquarium said in a media release.

It was still on the beach on Friday and may remain there for weeks, the aquarium said, as it is difficult for scavengers to puncture its tough skin.

Click to play video: 'Federal government announces new protections for B.C.’s orca population'

Federal government announces new protections for B.C.’s orca population

The aquarium’s photos showed a flat, round gray fish lying on its side in the sand.

Story continues below advertisement

Photos of a person kneeling next to it, plus another of a pickup truck parked alongside it as well, gave a sense of its large scale and size.

The email you need for the day’s top news stories from Canada and around the world.

The stir it has created on social media prompted a New Zealand-based researcher who has studied sunfish to contact the aquarium.

A photo showing the size of the fish, with a pickup truck in the background for comparison. Tiffany Boothe / Seaside Aquarium via AP

After looking at photographs of the fish, Marianne Nyegaard confirmed that it was indeed a hoodwinker sunfish—rarer than the more common ocean sunfish — and said she believed it may be the largest such fish ever sampled, according to the aquarium.

In research published in 2017, Nyegaard discovered through genetic sampling and observation that the hoodwinker sunfish, or Mola tecta, was a different species than the ocean sunfish, Mola mola.

“Tecta” in Latin means hidden or disguised, referring to a new species that had been “hiding in plain sight,” the aquarium said.

Story continues below advertisement

A closeup of the hoodwinker sunfish that washed ashore in Oregon. Tiffany Boothe / Seaside Aquarium via AP

A hoodwinker sunfish washed ashore on the California coast in 2019.

Other hoodwinkers have washed ashore again more recently in California and Alaska as well, challenging the theory that it only lives in the southern hemisphere, the aquarium said.

The aquarium added that it’s also likely that the fish washed ashore in other parts of the Pacific Northwest but was mistaken for the more common ocean sunfish at the time.

More on World

&copy 2024 The Associated Press

Source