Wednesday, 17 February 2016

Nature - Images

Interesting Images

A bizarre deep sea creature, which looks like a cross between a crocodile and a dolphin has washed ashore on the banks of an Australian lake. Australian Museum fish collector Mark McGrouther suspects it is a pike eel, native to deep waters on the east coast of Australia.

“I suspect it was caught and discarded by fisherman who got more than they bargained for when they tried to reel it in.” The pike eel is known to thrash around violently once hooked, damaging fishing equipment and forcing fishermen to cut their lines.

“They can grow up to 1.8 metres in length, but the angle of this photo makes it difficult to determine how large it is.” The pike eel has an elongated body and long slender jaws and large pointed teeth at the front of the lower jaw and on the roof of its mouth. They are nocturnal and known to travel as far as 100 metres deep in search of fish and crustaceans to feed on. The species is elusive as it typically resides in waters near the ocean floor at around 1,200 metres below sea level.

Screen Shot 2016 02 17 at 2 19 09 PM

No comments:

Post a Comment