Mystery fish stumps Barrow

www.thetundradrums.com


The morning that the mystery fish turned up Charles Maasak Brower had been doing his best to sleep in. But it was a Saturday and his wife out of town, so with four sons running around the house he soon gave up.

"My boys were being boys and I got tired of the noise so I asked them if they wanted to caribou hunting and seal hunting," Brower said.

Around noon on Nov. 14 Brower packed his four sons - Qiuwak, 12, Matthew, 8, Thomas, 6, and Leo, 3 - into his Ford Explorer and set off down the beach towards Wainwright. It was still a little dark when, about six miles out of Barrow, Brower spotted something in the distance. Thinking it might be a seal, Brower got his gun out of the back of his car and walked closer, but whatever it was didn't move. When Brower finally got a good look, his jaw dropped.

"I said - what is that?!"

It was a fish of some kind, but Brower had never seen anything like it. Frozen solid, it had a long thick body that looked a little like an eel's, but with a bulging belly. About a foot tall, the fish had a blunt nose and pronounced lips. After scaring away a fox that was gnawing on its tail, Brower wrapped up the fish in a plastic bag to drive it home before it could thaw. Once there he mounted it on a tall box outside his window alongside the road.

Curious about his catch, Brower started asking people around town if they'd seen anything like it before. He asked elders, hunters and whaling captains. He asked biologists. He sent out a call on the VHF to the whole town - did anyone know what it was?

This is interesting, it would have been nice for a pic, but so far I haven't found one for this mystery fish.. It's mentioned in the article that it could be a wolf fish though it doesn't match anything they have discovered in that region, and the scientists that have seen it still haven't given a definitive answer to the "what is it?" question..

A couple of Universities may be interested in acquring the fish for their collection but for now it still hangs frozen outside the finders house..


Me? I am still waiting for a pic.. what's that saying?

A pic.. or it never happened







[edit on 11/23/2009 by JacKatMtn]

interesting!
let's keep an eye on this thread to see if a photo pops up.
thanks for sharing.

Without a picture it makes it hard for me to believe anything except this hunter hasn't been well versed in the different type of fish species in his area, or for that matter, many fish species.

When I read "bulging belly" I could also assume an illness that the fish had, and hence why it is no longer alive. Let's just say I wouldn't eat anything I have never heard about or see before.

When the picture gets released it might just end up on one of those youtube videos with other interesting or disgusting looking fish from beyond the depths.

yeah i would like to see a pic also.
if he put it on display and owns an explorer don't tell me he or noone else in town has a camera.
and if it was taken by biologists why haven't they shown a pic or spoken on it?
i'm really curious now.
it sounds like a wolffish but not sure if they live that far north

One thing that has me puzzled, is the part of the story where the man saw this on the beach and thought it might be a seal?

According to the article the fish is only a foot long.. maybe the fish combined with the fox who was supposedly nibbling on the fishes tail could have given the appearance of a seal..

A picture should surface, it's the talk of the town and plenty of people have gone up to check it out, in this day and age cameras are everywhere..

Patiently waiting

Here's another piece on the fish.. this one by the AP, I know they have cameras.. but still no pic

Mystery fish all the buzz in Barrow

SPECIES: Biologists, neighbors puzzled by hunter's find on beach.

BARROW -- Charles Maasak Brower was heading out to do some seal and caribou hunting with his four sons when they stumbled upon a beach find -- a fish -- that has nearly everyone stumped.

Frozen solid, the fish Brower found Nov. 14 was described by him as having a long, thick body like an eel's, but with a bulging belly. About a foot long, the fish had a blunt nose and pronounced lips.

I just emailed tundradrums and juneauempire asking if they can get a picture. I'll post whatever I get back.

hmm odd indeed.

the description does sound like a wolf eel.

but its hard to say without a pic.


here's a pic of a wolf eel.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/80caa5bb005a.jpg[/atsimg]

Ummm look at the article again there is pictures. Maybe they just posted them, but it looks like a fish head with a bloated eels body, and maybe part of the tail is missing.

From the article:

definitely not a wolf eel i would say
maybe a new species of kelpfish??
and tail looks like it was cut off too-it is to straight of a cut for it to be from a fox gnawing on it

reply to post by JacKatMtn


Very odd! I personally hope it's a previously undiscovered species. That always gets me excited.

I hope that finding the fish kept the guy from killing seals.

Originally posted by gnosis111
Ummm look at the article again there is pictures. Maybe they just posted them, but it looks like a fish head with a bloated eels body, and maybe part of the tail is missing.

Cool, they have added some pics.. thanks for updating..

It is a strange looking fish.. for sure, the issues with the tail might have to do with the fox who was having a taste, which was mentioned in the piece...

here's one of the 3 pics from the OP source....







[edit on 11/23/2009 by JacKatMtn]

i like the coloring of that fish thing.


Mod Note: One Line and Short Posts – Please Review This Link.

[edit on Mon Nov 23 2009 by DontTreadOnMe]

Remember the How to Identify Stuff thread?

Let's give that a try... I did it, here are some possibilities, but run a search for Alaska and Marine to see the full list.


Bering Wolffish
Wolf-eel
We could have a coelacanth situation here, maybe. Or a new species.
Lingcod?
Cabezon?
Rockfish?

Can't wait to find out what it is.

and one other thing that gets me is how did it get bloated if it was frozen solid? unless it bloated in the ocean before being washed up on shore. but i doubt it bloated much considering how cold the water was/is.
but even so if it was an eel and only 1 foot long it doesn't havethe shape of an eel.
it is shaped more like a kelpfish or sea bass.
i'm dying to find out what it is.
would be awesome if it was a new species

I never heard back from the newspaper, but they did add the pictures.

I think Alaskan Man is right--wolf eel.
I found a head-on picture where you can see the fish lips.
www.nanfa.org...