Fanged deep-sea fish washes up on Oregon Coast. What to know about longnose lancetfish
A mysterious deep-sea fish known for having a serpent-like body and sharp fang-like teeth washed up on a Seaside beach April 22.
The Seaside Aquarium received a call about a barracuda-like fish that was found along a Seaside beach.
It was discovered to be a longnose lancetfish, a deep-sea fish measuring approximately 5 feet long with large eyes and a gaping mouth full of fang-like teeth.
According to the Seaside Aquarium, there isn't much known about the fish, but they see a handful of them wash up along the Oregon Coast every year during the spring and summer months.
"We know they range from the southern Bering Sea to Chile and occupy surface waters down to 6,000 feet," the Seaside Aquarium said in a social media post. "We also know that they are not picky eaters, they are known to eat over 90 different species of marine life, including each other, and unfortunately, are attracted to plastics."
Whenever a longnose lancetfish washes ashore, it presents the aquarium with an opportunity to study their stomach contents.
The fish's unique feeding habits and poor stomach digestion can lend insight into how the marine food web changes and help scientists understand any changes that occur due to events like El Nino or La Nina, according to the Seaside Aquarium.
Contents found in this fish's stomach include fish, squid, octopus beaks and plastic bits.
Ginnie Sandoval is the Oregon Connect reporter for the Statesman Journal. Sandoval can be reached at GSandoval@gannett.com or on X at @GinnieSandoval.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Longnose lancetfish washes up on Oregon Coast beach in Seaside
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