A huge rare fish washes up on California beach

A huge strange looking fish washed up in Santa Barbara, California. The fish was about seven-foot (2.1m) length. Scientists are wondering about how the fish made it so far from its home waters. Researchers first thought that it was a similar to species of sunfish.

The fish was spotted at the Coal Oil Point Natural Reserve by intern at the University of California. It was found out that it belongs to a species tht is never seen before in North America. The animal was recognized as hoodwinker sunfish.

Marianne Nyegaard, a marine scientist who discovered the species in 2017 said “When the clear pictures came through, I thought there was no doubt. This is totally a hoodwinker, I couldn’t believe it. I nearly fell out of my chair.”

Scientists says that the saltwater sunfish have mainly 5 species and comes from different places. They are located in tropical waters, subtropics etc. The hoodwinker prefers temperate water as per scientists.

Image courtesy : www.inaturalist.org / images are subject to copyright