A Norwegian fisherman is causing a stir on Instagram after sharing photos of a mysterious sea creature he dubbed the “Frankenstein fish.” A photo of this bizarre fish is currently making waves on Instagram as amateur oceanographers attempt to guess the identity of this enigmatic creature.
The strange fish has been identified by marine biologists as a ghost shark, living at depths of 200 to 2,550 meters beneath the ocean’s surface.
This creature was captured by Roman Fedortsov, a commercial fisherman based near the port city of Murmansk, Russia, who photographed dozens of oddities during night fishing trips.
One of Fedortsov’s most unusual discoveries, posted a week ago to his Instagram account that has over 649,000 followers, is a pale fish with deep-set blue eyes, a tail resembling a folded wing, and fins akin to bat wings. Perhaps the most striking feature is the strange, stitch-like markings that make the fish appear to be haphazardly sewn together, reminiscent of Frankenstein or the character “Jigsaw” from the comic “The Punisher.”
However, some knowledgeable social media users correctly guessed that this creature is a ghost shark—also known as chimaera, ratfish, ghost fish, or rabbit fish—which is related to sharks and rays, according to Smithsonian magazine.
According to the Shark Trust organization in the UK, this species has cartilage instead of bones and is rarely seen because they inhabit depths ranging from 200 to 2,550 meters. In fact, although it has been known to science for quite some time, it was first captured on camera in 2016.
