Rare fish found in Army Bay

The weird and wonderful fish found on Army Bay beach.

Local plumber Dean Thomas’ regular walk on Army Bay beach with his dog on August 6, the day after a big storm, turned up something more than a little surprising.A very unusual fish, with two pairs of feet, was lying in the sand on the tide line. Its eyes were almost invisible – just tiny pink dots ­– and it had two little horns on the top of its head.

The fish was around 70–100mm long and Dean said it stood out because of its yellow body with black stripes, and weird appearance.

He took it home to show a fisherman mate, who couldn’t identify it, and then put images on Facebook.

Theories came in thick and fast as to what it could be.

At Hibiscus Matters’ request, NIWA principal fisheries scientist Dr Malcolm Francis identified the fish as a striped angler (Antennarius striatus) – also known as a striped frogfish, hairy frogfish, and hairy anglerfish.

The species is found in tropical waters including the Indo-Pacific and the warmer waters off Australia’s eastern and northern coasts.

It is rare in New Zealand waters. Auckland Council’s marine biologists suggest they could drift over as larvae from East Australia.

Striped anglers are unique in having a third dorsal fin that is enlarged and a first dorsal fin that is modified to serve as a luring tool to capture prey. The lure consists of a ‘stalk’ with what looks like bait on the end. The striped angler uses this to attract prey. As the prey swims in to grab the ‘bait’, the Anglerfish strikes – its strike is one of the fastest movements recorded in the ocean.

If the scientists were keen to have a closer look at the rare specimen, they were out of luck.

“I kept it for a while, but it started to get a bit whiffy, so I threw it in the rubbish,” Dean says.