A fisherman is creating a lot of buzz on the social media platform on Instagram after posting a picture of a fish he caught, titling it “Frankenstein's Fish”. The account named rfedortsov_official_account has nearly 650,000 followers on Instagram and routinely posts interesting fish he manages to catch while on the job.
This picture that went viral last week showcases a translucent white fish, with sunken green eyes, a tail that is jagged and fins that look like torn wings. There are even strange markings on the fish which make it look like its body has been sewn shut.
Several social media users reacted in horror while some were able to identify the fish as well. User jmcg21 wrote, “My Marine Bio son said it looks like a Ratfish from the depths of possibly skinned. They are cartilaginous - not scaled (similar to sharks)”. Fish such as these live deep in the ocean and are found at depths between 650 and 8,530 feet, according to the UK organization Shark Trust. These don't usually have a lot of colour and are adapted to withstand a lot of pressure due to their very deep habitat.
The account posted another fish from the deep depths, captioning the post, “I hope that you are not eating at this moment”. The picture shows a dark coloured fish with its eyes popped out, along with its guts in its mouth.
Once again social media was quick to explain the picture with user rebmagra writing, “Judging by the poor creature's protruding eyes and the internal organs hanging from its mouth, it suffered barotrauma, or ‘the bends' as divers call it. When deep sea fish are pulled up on a line or in a net, their swim bladder rapidly expands as the water pressure rapidly decrease, and this forces their gut out of their mouth and their eyes to bulge out of their head. The fish is often alive when it reaches the surface this way.”
