Thomas Turner / ReutersGet breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — A 7-foot sea creature that washed ashore in Southern California has been identified as a hoodwinker sunfish, a recently identified rare species thought to live in the Southern Hemisphere.
That drew the attention of Thomas Turner, an associate professor in UCSB's ecology, evolution and marine biology department who examined the fish and posted photos to the iNaturalist online community. Nyegaard told UCSB in an email that she discussed the images with ichthyologist Ralph Foster of the South Australian Museum but was reluctant to identify the fish as a hoodwinker because the photos didn't clearly show distinctive features and because it had turned up so far out of its known range.
Turner and Nielsen were glad to help, but first they had to find the fish, which had been moved by the tide, according to UCSB.
I knew what it was from watching Planet Earth I think. The sunfish is the most bone dense fish on Earth. Yay me!
realDonaldTrump
Horrible photographer for perspective shot. You have no perspective by that photograph how really large that fish is, if it’s truly 7 feet long.
Um, it was identified a week ago at a glance.
Cmon man. We now have to turn a sunfish into a fake news story. When will it end? Be nice to know what's killing all the sea life washing ashore in Cali? Hmmm... Fukushima!
“...hoodwinker sunfish, a recently identified rare species thought to live in the Southern Hemisphere.” They are from the Southern Hemisphere.
Just a sunfish, if it’s rare then I see a lot of rare shot all the time
Moon fish
A sun fish 🐠
That’s not that exotic...
lilleywhite5472 Messenger of the world still unknown
Jay says it's a big fahkin' sea turtle.
It looks like a turtle & a fish had a baby. 🤔
There a couple of guys in MA who know exactly what this is. Or maybe they don't
They might be “rare” on beaches, but not in the ocean. I’ve seen these several times, sailing around the Channel Islands off Ventura. Everyone involved with boating or diving knew what these were.
I know this is a sunfish. But listen, if we took global warming seriously, I wouldn’t have to face my extremely illogical fear of creatures that come out the sea. Reminds me that every way to DIE, there is an organism in the ocean to do so. Sunfish are harmless, but still! 🥵
It was pending notification of next of fin. ✌🏻
bruh just a sunfish
I wonder how it died
Can you imagine the smell? 🐋🐋💨👃😵🤢
Sunfish. They have one in the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Pretty obvious it’s a sun fish.
Sun fish for those who don’t wanna click the link. Looks like a giant upright flounder with eyes where it should be cause it doesn’t live on the floor. Completely harmless and likely endangered iirc
Phew
This is obviously the 'Shaquille O'Neal Flounder'
from a picture on a milk carton?
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