A huge, flat and round fish washed ashore far from temperate waters in the southern hemisphere where it was thought only to live.
The 7.3-foot hoodwinker sunfish turned up on Gearhart Beach on Oregon’s northern coast on Monday, according to the Seaside Aquarium.
‘Initially this large, strange looking fish was creating quite a stir on social media and though it was stormy folks were flocking to the beach to see this unusual fish,’ stated the aquarium on Facebook on Thursday.
While the strange gray fish has piqued the curiosity of people around the world, it was a particularly significant discovery for New Zealand-based researcher Mariann Nyegaard.
Nyegaard suspected that the fish was not a common ocean sunfish, also known as Mola mola. She described and published research on the hoodwinker sunfish, or Mola tecta, in 2017.
‘Through photographs, Marianne confirmed that it was a hoodwinker and that this may be the largest specimen ever sampled,’ wrote the aquarium.
Hoodwinker sunfish were believed to only reside in temperate waters, but several of them washed ashore recently form California to Alaska, where waters are much colder.
‘This fish, hiding in plain sight, has most likely been seen/washed ashore in the Pacific Northwest before but was mistaken for the more common, Mola mola,’ stated the aquarium.
Aquarium staff heeded Nyegaard’s request to take tissue samples, measurements and photos of the creature, that confirmed her suspicion on its identity.
The hoodwinker sunfish will likely remain on the beach just north of Seaside for several more days or weeks.
‘Their tough skin makes it hard for scavengers to puncture,’ stated the aquarium.
‘It is a remarkable fish and the aquarium encourages people to go see it for themselves.’
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The rare fish washed up shortly after another peculiar aquatic animal was seen in Missouri. In late May, an angler reeled in a northern snakehead, which is an invasive, air-breathing fish with a head similar to that of a snake.
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