Rare ‘Alien’ fish netted off Irish Coast
Global warming may have attracted the rare South American species, the Black Widow, into deep water fisheries off the south west.
The bulbous black fish traps males for mating and they stay attached for the rest of their lives.
The dead Black Widow was netted by trawler skipper Sean Conneely 200 miles off the coast.
Normally, the fish can keep males alive on its body for 30 to 40 years by feeding them blood.
The fish, hunted by deep sea anglers in warm waters, has been sent to a natural history museum. Dingle Oceanworld director Kevin Flannery said the fish can live f up to 120 years.
Examining the fish, he said a number of rare specimens have been discovered off the Irish coast in recent years due to increasing sea temperatures. “These angler fish were used as inspiration for the Alien films because they are so weird-looking.
“The fish is extremely big and black and lives in depths of up to three miles It’s pitch dark, so the female leaves out her scent which attracts the males. When the male injects for fertilisation and is attached to the fish, she clamps him and he can’t withdraw. The male it kept there for life and degenerates down to about one-hundredth of the size of the female.”
Mr Flannery said females hang on to the males, because they so seldom meet them in the deep. Some females have more than one male attached.
