What lurked in the depths, now is going to haunt your
boat.
Be careful what you hook up.
Aside from picking some vicious industrial garbage, you can bring to the surface
some strange and unmentionable things. Most fishermen will
happily brag about an extraordinary big fish (and we'll show plenty of those in
this article). But sometimes the catch is so bizarre, that they'd rather try to
forget it over a drink or two.
"Larger than life" (but hopefully still real)
catches
We all know that the size of our
largest catch is only limited to how wide we can stretch our arms, and how
gullible your friends are. A picture would usually prove your story, if you
don't mind occasional "this is Photoshop... I can tell by the pixels"
comments:
(a whale shark, not that big
either)
Catfish the size
of a small car? Well, almost.
"The World's Largest Catfish"
catch happened in Thailand : (more info - that is a 646-pound Mekong giant
catfish)
(photo by Suthep
Kritsanavarin)
This is, by the way, officially
the largest freshwater fish ever caught...
Here are more record catfish
catches: (images credit:
euro-som.de)
This one was
caught in France : 106kg, 2.5 meters
Spain :
101kg
Germany : 83kg, 2.2
meters
Kazakhstan : 130kg, 2.6
meters
"Fish in Distress" Needs Saving
According to this source an eight-inch basketball was stuck in a catfish'
mouth - the 50-pound fish could not swim or dive, so Wichita resident Bill
Driver used a knife to poke the hole in the ball and deflate
it:
(photos credit:
Michael Pearce, Wichita Eagle, 2004)
This fish
is also asking for trouble:
More fish
misadventures:
The Cutest of the Bunch
Aww! Look
at this friendly whale! -
Here is a baby stingray that
you'll remember for the rest of your week,
guaranteed:
(original
unknown) (photo by Jeffrey
N. Goldsmith)
White Eye Morel
Eel:
(image credit:
Frances Tan)
Another "alien" on Earth:
pretty endearing sea dragon (a Triops) -
(image credit: Steve
Jurvetson)
The Blue Dragon - pelagic sea
slug:
(original
unknown)
The cutest of them all: an
Axolotl - a freshwater salamander:
The one with the biggest
"cuteness factor" is the albino - white, almost transparent Axolotl. They are
priceless creatures (made to be worshiped by Japanese
schoolgirls)
Most Vicious of the Bunch
We all
know this is "fish-eats-fish" world -
Sharks... awesome
creatures:
The "flying sharks" pictorial
is something not to be missed - see it here:
(image credit:
National Geographic)
Goliath Tiger
Fish:
Want to catch the wickedest-looking fish, and
snap pictures that are going to be forwarded by scared grandmas all over the
internet?
Go to the Congo River (or Lake Tanganyika
in Central Africa ) and try to catch a Goliath Tiger Fish (aka African tigerfish
or giant tigerfish), or Hydrocynus Goliath.. Just make sure not to go swimming
in these waters, as this kind of fish indeed is known to attack humans (the only
freshwater fish in Africa that would do so) -
(images source)
This
company will set up a fishing expedition for you. There is plenty of toothy
fish in these waters:
The Ugliest of the Bunch
These live
mostly at significant depths, so it's highly unlikely that they will be fished
out. But if you do, then - don't make a false move in your
boat:
This giant grouper is not
really ugly, but rather imposing with its 5-foot
size:
(image credit:
Frances Tan)
Going Deeper - See the
spell-binding gallery of "creatures of the
abyss
(image credit:
Edith Widder)
(image credit:
David Shale)
Here is a really ugly monk-fish
(which a lot of people consider a delicacy!) -
(image credit: Maryland Dept. of Natural
Resources)
Hope this aquarium has thick
glass:
(art installation
by Damien Hirst)
Speaking of ugly catches,
you might have seen already the infamous "Mr.
Blobby":
(image credit: K.
Parkinson, NORFANZ)
"A Fathead (genus Psychrolutes)
trawled during the NORFANZ expedition at a depth between 1013 m and 1340 m, on
the Norfolk Ridge, north-west of New Zealand , June 2003"
Fish
Tales
This fish was given the opportunity
to speak out (as part of 1945 research). Must be some hair-raising tales,
judging by how scared it looks.