A fisherman has reeled a ‘weird’ and ‘dinosaur-like’ creature with large bulbous eyes completely out of proportion to its tiny body.
Oscar Lundahl, 19, was trying to catch blue halibut when he found the unusual fish on the end of his line off the coast of Andoya in Norway.
He had four hooks on one line in around 2,600 feet of water when he felt a tug on his line and spent 30 minutes reeling in the fish.
Lundahl explained that he ‘felt something quite big’ but was surprised by the catch.
‘I have never seen anything like it before. It just looked weird, a bit dinosaur-like. I didn’t know what it was but my colleague did,’ Lundahl told The Sun.
Oscar Lundahl (above), 19, caught the unusual creature with bulbous eyes and a small body off the coast of Andoya, in Norway, after a 30 minute struggle to reel the fish in
Lundahl (left) described the catch as ‘weird’ and ‘dinosaur-like’ but was later told by a colleague that it could be a ‘ratfish’ (right). They are believed to be descendants of sharks and dwell on the deep oceanfloor
Lundahl, a fishing guide, had all four hooks on one line when he claims to have reeled the fish in from 2,600ft of water
The fishing guide for Nordic Sea Angling claims the weird-looking creature is a ratfish, a relative of the shark that dates back 300 million years.
Their Latin name Chimaeras Monstrosa Linnaeus is derived from a Greek mythical monster with the head of a lion and tail of a dragon.
The fish is very rarely caught by anglers and lives in very deep water. It’s large eyes allow it to see in the depths of the ocean.
Lundahl claimed the fish died due to the extreme change in pressure it faced while being brought to the surface.
Not wanting to waste the catch, he took it home and fried the fish.
‘Despite its ugly appearance, it was really tasty. It is a bit like cod but tastier,’ Lundahl added.
Not only is he believed to have caught a ratfish but also two halibut too.
Lundahl said: ‘I was really happy about that and then I saw there was something else. It was pretty amazing.’
Despite its odd appearance ratfish cause no harm to humans, mainly feeding on crustaceans including crabs, sea snails and clams, Monterey Bay Aquarium wrote.
They are believed to be the ‘missing link’ between fish with bones and those with a skeleton of cartilage.
Ratfish dwell on the seafloor up to 3,300-foot beneath the surface where they search for food.
