People have been left shaken up after a rare 6ft fish - thought to appear before catastrophe - was spotted by divers. Not ideal.
The bizarre looking creature - which has an elongated, silvery-coloured flat body, dotted with holes - came up close to divers off the coast of Taiwan.
While the creature may look pretty unusual - they also have an interesting, and somewhat terrifying, legend associated with them.
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It’s believed that the fish, known as a Russell's Oarfish, is believed to be a harbinger of coming doom or danger, especially in Japanese mythology where they are believed to be an omen for tsunamis and earthquakes and, as such, have been branded the ‘Doomsday Fish’.
Not today, Doomsday Fish, please.
The fish usually lives at much greater depths between 200m and 1000m - so when diving instructor, Wang Cheng-Ru spotted one for the first ever time, he whipped out his camera and took a snap.
Wang believes that the oarfish may have been dying so it was swimming to shallow waters.
In a clip about the so-called Doomsday Fish, TikToker Dylan Page, explained that the fish are believed to rise to the surface ahead of earthquakes, but stressed that there’s no scientific evidence to support that theory.
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But that didn’t stop folks from being more than a little bit concerned about what the recent sighting could mean, with one person saying: “I feel like this is a bad sign.”
Another commented: “I’m never going in the water again.”
A third wote: “I'm with the folklore on this one.”
While someone else warned: “They know something when they leave the place they live at. Trust the fish.”
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A fifth person joked: “2023 is about to get bumpy only now? Let’s review everything else that has happened this year?”
The large holes you can see along the length of the fish’s body are actually bites from a small species of shark commonly known as the Cookiecutter Shark.
The sharks, which get their name from their circular-shaped jaws, are pretty small and look fairly innocuous but they actually have a pretty grim way of getting their food.
After grabbing a hold of its unsuspecting prey, the shark will nibble away at the skin until it manages to tear a circular chunk from its victim, leaving the distinctive circular marks.
While the specimen in the photos taken by Wang may look pretty massive, it’s actually quite small in oarfish terms.
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The creatures are known to grow to around eight-metres in length, and some unconfirmed sightings were said to be almost twice that size.
Topics: Animals, Weird, World News, Sharks
Claire Reid