In early December, a unique fish with frightening traits washed up on a San Diego beach. The discovery, according to the beachgoer who originally discovered it, was ‘the stuff of nightmares.’
The Pacific footballfish is a water organism that lives between 2,000 and 3,000 feet below the surface, where sunlight cannot reach it. The fish features a long antenna with a bioluminescent light extending from the head, dozens of tiny ‘needle-sharp teeth, prickly skin, and miniscule eyes,’ according to the California Academy of Sciences. In the pitch-black habitat of the deep sea, the species uses its bioluminescence to attract prey.
Jay Beiler was positive he had spotted a jellyfish at Torrey Pines State Beach. That is, until he got a better look at the animal and snapped a couple shots of it.
‘At first, I thought it was a — like a jellyfish or something,’ Beiler told NBC 7 San Diego. ‘But then I went and looked at it a little more closely, and some other people were gathering around it as well, and then I saw that it was this extremely odd fish. It’s the stuff of nightmares – his mouth was nearly bleeding! I’d guess it was nearly a foot long,’ he said.
A type of anglerfish found in California, Japan, Hawaii, Ecuador, Chile and the Philippines is known as the Pacific footballfish. However, it has only been seen a handful times throughout recorded history in California. Due to its size, which can be 60 times that of males and its spiky teeth, which are also missing in males, Beiler’s discovery is thought to be a mature female.
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