Comments on: Mystery Fish Photograph Revisited

By: Kels.89

Kels.89 — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 02:19:34 +0000

Easy Peezy lol this is a White Sturgeon. They are the biggest freshwater species in the USA (although they have been known to also inhabit salt water areas) and can weigh over 1,500 pounds, be 20 feet in length, and live for well over 100 years. And obviously are known as a kind of prehistoric fish. These days any hooked sturgeon over 5 feet must be released unharmed without being removed from the water as they are more than likely over 100 yrs old and are classed as “breeding stock”, as they are a slow growing and slow maturing fish. It isn’t a common occurrence that they be seen or caught as they are bottom dwellers.

They have one big gill where their head joins to the rest of the body. Problem solved

By: hetzer88

hetzer88 — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 04:20:31 +0000

Ummmm, maybe it’s just me, but people are attempting to identify this with something that is known. The problem is, this is an unknown animal, most likely in the reptile class, since the tail looks to have flopped sideways, which means if stood up it would propel this beast as a fish tail does, and there fore it cannot be a mammal. The Philippines in the early part of last century rings with the best guess I would make, mainly because, back then the standard military issue hat was very similar to the military style tyhe guy in the middle is wearing. Just look at a pic of Teddy Roosevelt and his ‘Rough Riders’ and many of those guys have similar hats like that. My best guess is that it is truly an unknown animal, that was caught by these guys, and they dragged it up on shore to take a shot, which is why there is so little decomposition. Hey, in tropical climes, decomposition happens very very fast. Try to see the forest through the trees. Unknown animal.

By: MattBille

MattBille — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 03:43:18 +0000

Darned if the head doesn’t look a little like the Kogia sima head shown in the fourth photo down (the one with the labeling “Figure 1″ in the frame) in Darren Naish’s post on that oddball cetacean. The rest of it doesn’t fit, but the head kind of startled me when I read Darren’s article.

By: Roddy Hays

Roddy Hays — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 03:42:42 +0000

It’s not a shark. I’ve seen a lot of dead sharks in my time, skinned and unskinned and this creature is not a member of the shark family. From the head back it is a white fish, skinned, with the blood vessels close to the lateral line showing clearly, much the same as any common white fish would do if it was skinned.

The head is very unfishlike. It says reptile to me too, so one suggestion I have is that it may be the head (or the complete skinned body) of a skinned Komodo Dragon or similiar (Indonesia) as these reptiles were routinely skinned and the hides and jaws sold to museums in the time frame we are talking about. If this is the case then the legs have been removed too and the body arranged to give the impression of being something else - not entirely improbable if you’re a bored serviceman on a boring beachhead. On the other hand, providing a museum with a decent skin might involve taking the legs anyway so leaving very little behind except for what is in picture. I have never skinned a Komodo Dragon so cannot tell you what they look like on the rest of their body, but it might in entirety not be disimiliar to what you see here, once all the “good” bits have been taken away.

By: Markoswan

Markoswan — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:27:18 +0000

Larry:
The “mouth line” was removed in one enhancement under the assumption that it was a smear of blood running from the gill line down towards the front of the head. It was removed to give viewers a view of the head without the suggested mouth line since it may not actually be the mouth.

By: Larry

Larry — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:53:05 +0000

When I look at the first of the enlargements of the head (the one that is the lighter sepia toned shot), I agree with the comment that there is little depth to the mouth line, gill slit, or eye. In that photo, it looks like a piece of driftwood painted to look like an eel. The dark coloration on the object looks like paint strokes in this image.

Also, why is there no mouth line in the third of the closeups?

By: Liz85

Liz85 — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 03:25:51 +0000

I’m not an expert by any means, so my question to those who suggest it’s a finned and skinned shark: if it is a skinned shark, what is that black coloring running the length of it’s body? The head looks very shark-like though and I can understand, if it is a shark, why it may be missing the fins. The elongated mouth just reminds me of The Black Dahlia murder. O.O

By: steele79

steele79 — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 21:09:42 +0000

First off, if you Google dead shark this does not look anything like a dead shark. The mouth is totally wrong, wrong angle, wrong size and shape. And there are no teeth showing. If it was rotted and decayed, the teeth would not fall out as the jaw and teeth are the only bones in a shark. And where are the fins? They should be there are no cut marks it’s smooth no marks at all so this looks like it has no fins then. Also look where are the gills? If it’s a fish, there should be gills, but I don’t see any gills slits at all. If it’s not a fish, it would have to be some type of aquatic mammal like a dolphin or seal or whale but there are no fins either once again and I think it’s too small and stubby to be some kind of serpent unless most of the back half fell off due to rotting off them maybe. But I think this is just an elaborate fake these guys made up. And think about it if this was rotten they would have had to move it to this spot and I don’t think the belly would be so nice if it’s rotting it probably would have fallen apart and why would they move a stinking rotting fish when they could have taken pics right on the beach where they found it? No to me this is a fake.

By: mrd006

mrd006 — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 20:54:12 +0000

I don’t know if I’m just too noobish to know any better, but I think I see a long pole laying along side the creature. Could that mean they use a stretcher of some sort to transport the creature to that spot? If so then it may help to rule out the big rock or carved or painted piece of drift wood theory. And if it is a paint job then, WOW!!!! I’m convinced.

By: edgar

edgar — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 16:22:43 +0000

“those “tubs” in the shack look like early washing machines”

No wringers, which would be clearly visible in the photograph, and having washing machines outside may not be the best idea. However, what those “tubs” do look like to me is old style metal trash cans.

IF those are trash cans, then the identification of the mystery fish as a shark that has been skinned and had the fins removed for soup becomes very credible, as the rest of the carcass would be considered garbage. Its placement next to the trash cans then becomes easily explainable.

The shape of the head seens consistent with a shark, and the problematic extended mouth line could be a result of someone cutting the mouth opening wider to get at the jaws and teeth, which might be considered the only part of the shark worth saving after it had been de-finned and skinned