A beachgoer was surprised to find a rarely seen fish washing up on a California beach, with a monstrous-looking body shaped like a football.
On Monday, Crystal Cove State Park posted photos of the fish, which is totally black and has exceptionally sharp, pointy teeth, on social media. It is most likely a female Pacific Football Fish, one of over 200 species of anglerfish found worldwide, generally thousands of feet deep in the ocean.
“Only females possess a long stalk on the head with bioluminescent tips used as a lure to entice prey in the darkness of waters as deep as 3,000 feet!” the park wrote. “Their teeth, like pointed shards of glass, are transparent and their large mouth is capable of sucking up and swallowing prey the size of their own body.”
It was discovered at Laguna Beach’s Marine Protected Area. While the fish itself is not uncommon, officials stated that seeing one complete is exceptionally rare.
Female football fish can grow to be up to 24 inches long, but males are just around an inch long and serve primarily to help females breed. The interesting fish’s head features a phosphorescent bulb that generates light to attract unwary prey.
“Males latch onto the female with their teeth and become ‘sexual parasites,’ eventually coalescing with the female until nothing is left of their form but their testes for reproduction,” park officials said.
Officials don’t know how or why the “strange and fascinating” fish washed ashore, but said that “it’s important to reflect on how much is still to be learned from our wonderful ocean.”
The fish is currently in the custody of the California Department of Fish & Wildlife.
