Girl reels in two-footed, horned fish

NW Cable News ^ | 08/13/03 | Staff Writer

[bedolido]

SEATTLE - A Federal Way, Wash., girl on a fishing trip with her family reeled in something right out of a science fiction film. Believe it or not, she caught a two-footed fish with a big horn.

8-year-old Otilia Grasan was fishing with her family this week when she caught the strangest fish she had ever seen.

“I was thinking that it might be a good pet and put it in the fish tank,” said Otilia. "When it came up in the water the eyes were really glowing and the whole tail was glowing too. So I thought it was gonna glow in the dark." Fresh from the family freezer, Otilia showed off her catch – an odd looking fish about 18 inches long.

You'd think a two-footed fish with a big, weird horn would be a rare discovery, but the truth is there are actually thousands of them in Puget Sound.

Turns out the mysterious creature is a distant member of the shark family with a decidedly unglamorous name.

“Yeah, this is the spotted ratfish,” said Wayne Palsson, Dept. of Fish and Wildlife

The so-called "feet" are actually modified fins used to latch onto females, helping big ratfish make little ratfish. The same goes for that handsome horn.

And while many crave crab legs and buffalo wings, if someone offers you some fresh caught “fish feet,” keep walking. Health officials say ratfish is poisonous and should not be eaten.

[bedolido]

[FreedomAvatar]

Hillary!

[Conspiracy Guy]

Looks more like Pelosi to me.

[samuel_adams_us]

It's a chinese spy!

[68skylark]

Reminds me of one time I was fishing with some uncles when I was about 9 or 10 on a small inland lake. One uncle hooked a fish and was reeling it in -- I went to net it, expecting to see a perch or bass. Instead, it was a gar with a long snout and teeth. I'd never seen anything like it -- in the low light it looked like a dragon to me, and I totally freaked! That was my most exciting fishing memory. I hope this 8-year old kid reacted to her catch with more composure than I did.

[theDentist]

“Yeah, this is the spotted ratfish,” said Wayne Palsson, Dept. of Fish and Wildlife.

It is Hillary.

[mbynack]

I caught one of these once. Really. I did. It was so big that ....

[Lazamataz]

[ChewedGum]

These are nasty!

Spotted Ratfish

Scientific name: Hydrolagus colliei
Identification: Blunt, rodent-like snout and mouth. Large eyes. Body is tapered with iridescent silvery back with white spots. Pectoral fins are large. Has an opercular gill opening like bony fish, but it reproduces like sharks and rays (internal fertilization) and has the appropriate anatomy. The spine at the front of the dorsal fin is toxic.
Reproduction: After internal fertilization, two eggs are laid. These eggs may hang from the mother’s body by long filaments for 4-6 days. After settling on the sea floor, the eggs will take up to a year to hatch.

I would suggest throwing back any of these that you find. I'm thinking the so-called "feet" are just the eggs hanging off the fish.

Gum

[Richard Kimball]

My most exciting fishing memory was pulling up a water moccasin on a trot line at 3 am. I was about age 10, with my dad and a coleman lantern in the boat. That was not a happy snake.

[mewzilla]

“Yeah, this is the spotted ratfish,” said Wayne Palsson, Dept. of Fish and Wildlife.

Without so much rat in it. Ratfish tart, anyone?

[mhking]

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[r9etb]

ewww...evolution at its nastiest.

Given that it's in the shark family, this ugly little bugger probably hasn't changed for tens of millions of years.

[Phantom Lord]

Mine is deep sea fishing about 15 miles off the Delaware/Maryland coast and catching a pair of jeans with cinderblocks tied to it. The boat captain cut the line and let it fall back into the ocean.

[RockChucker]

Please....but without so much rat.

[GSWarrior]

[OXENinFLA]

http://www.local6.com/video/2403169/detail.html

Video here.

[mewzilla]

Ick. Frankenfishy there has a face only its mamma could love.