The Relative

Through the benefit of following an Australian news professional on Twitter (@lifeasinzy) I got a link to the picture at the right, a frilled shark that was caught by a fishing trawler in Australia.

If the fish looks prehistoric, you're right, because it is. The species dates back 80 million years, which is longer than the Granthams have been living at Downton Abbey by a considerable amount.

Not that that this specimen is that old, but the lineage is. Normally found only in waters between 1,200 and 1,500 metres down, this one got caught in a fishing net at 700 metres, the maximum a trawler in Australia does down. And certainly even at 700 metres, a recreational fisherman doesn't get a line down that far. A fish like this has not been seen for over 80 years.

The fish, a combination of an eel and a shark, has 300 teeth on 25 rows. This one also looks like it has pyorrhoea. It is so scary looking dead that alive the fish would seem able to even scare a corpse. If Luca Brasi slept with this fish, he's still having nightmares.

The story of the catch even made the network evening news here in the States on Thursday. This made me feel as someone who is plugged into events all over the world, because the picture and the story link were something I read early on Thursday morning.

Because the fish is so rarely seen, it can't possibly have a nickname, unlike the hacklehead that is caught by party boats in Long Island waters.

On one such excursion I was on a young fellow pulled up a very odd looking fish. He asked the mate what it was. The mate answered a question with a question, and asked the young fellow if he was married.

Huh? "It's called a mother-in-law fish."

No wonder some people choose to live together.



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