Sep 28, 2007

Ethereal Ratfish

This story was sent to me by Julia, banno, and Ida. You're looking at an albino ratfish. Albinism is very rare to find in adult fish. They get gobbled up too quickly. This one was pulled out of the Puget Sound in Washington state, US. They occur one in about seven million. Those are some long odds.

I've posted on the ratfish before. But this one has such an ethereal quality to it. It's almost...almost pretty.

BTW, this fish was yanked out of the water with a net, but was whisked off to an aquarium, where she will no doubt live a long, fruitful life of being stared at by ichthyologists.

Thanks, Julia, banno, and Ida. You've got the Ugly Eye (a rare gift).

Photo source: Seattle Times

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I read the article and she died on the ship. Jumped out of the bucket the night she was caught. Her body's now in a jar at the aquarium. RIP ugly ghosty fish.

Jade said...

You said it perfectly. I saw the picture before reading and said, "Ethereal and pretty." Neat find!

Anonymous said...

Sucks about the suicidal tendencies of the poor thing.
I like the idea of an albino ratfish...just like all those lab rats...

amandacheryl said...

wow...pretty(ish) ghost fish looks nothing like the previously posted rat-tailed fish things :-p