A rare and mysterious inhabitant of the deep sea – the tapeworm fish, often called "the fish of the end of the world" – has washed ashore in Southern California again. This time, a specimen measuring about 3 meters long was found on Encinitas Beach by a doctoral student at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. This is the third such case this year – a rather unusual number, considering that only two dozen such finds have been recorded on the California coast in the entire XNUMXth century, writes The Guardian.
Tapeworms (oarfish) – long, ribbon-shaped and silvery creatures – live in the mesopelagic zone, at depths of 200 to 1000 meters, where sunlight is completely blocked. Their emergence to the surface is considered both a biological mystery and a cultural phenomenon. In some regions of Asia they are called "earthquake prophets", because, as noted, before the catastrophic earthquake in Japan in 2011, as many as 20 such fish washed ashore.
The latest Encinitas find was well-preserved, and the fish's body, confirmed Ben Frable, a fish expert at the Scripps Institution, has been frozen for further study. "This is a very important specimen for our marine vertebrate collection," Frable says, adding that an autopsy earlier this year on the fish, which was found in August, yielded the first chromosome-level genome of the species.
“We are seeing a clear increase in sightings. It could be related to changing ocean conditions – perhaps El Niño or other climate anomalies,” Frable told The Guardian. But he said there is no single clear reason, and the increased occurrence of banded fish remains one of the great mysteries of the deep sea.
Two other cases this year were recorded off the coast of San Diego, where snorkelers spotted a 12-foot (almost 4 m) long dead fish, and in September on Huntington Beach, although the latter fish was so decomposed that it was not preserved.
Although science tends to rationalize the phenomenon, tapeworms still awakens the imagination and raises myths – its emergence from the ocean depths is undoubtedly attracting the attention of both the scientific community and the general public. However, whether it is simply a change in ocean conditions or something more – scientists are still searching for answers.
