A deep-sea fisherman has stunned social media with his latest eerie catch—an unusual fish so bizarre in appearance that many have compared it to an extraterrestrial being.
The fish, featuring a large, bulbous body, tiny eyes, and a gaping mouth, looks like something from another world. Roman Fedortsov, a seasoned fisherman who operates primarily in Murmansk, Russia, caught the creature in the northern Pacific Ocean and shared footage of his remarkable find with his 600,000 Instagram followers.
Fedortsov later identified the fish as an Aptocyclus ventricosus, commonly known as the smooth lumpfish or smooth lumpsucker. This species of deep-sea ray-finned fish can grow up to 44 cm in length, according to the platform What's The Jam. However, Fedortsov's catch appears particularly swollen, likely due to the pressure change when it was brought to the surface, giving it an even more exaggerated and alien-like form.
A video of the strange deep-sea inhabitant quickly went viral, drawing 200,000 views and a flood of reactions from astonished users. "Yeah, aliens are real," one viewer declared. Another commented, "That is 100% an alien." A third observer remarked, "Looks like an alien head," while a fourth simply exclaimed, "What a horror."
Not all responses were in awe of the fish's strange appearance. One individual went so far as to suggest, "Kill it and burn it and don't ever catch one of those again!" while another joked, "Fished in Chernobyl?" Others made pop culture comparisons, likening the fish to creatures from Alien vs. Predator, X-Men, as well as film characters Megamind and Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter.
According to experts at iNaturalist, the smooth lumpfish was scientifically classified as Cyclopterus ventricosus in 1769 by German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas. The species originates from the Sea of Okhotsk's Tauyskaya Bay near Ol'skiy Island. The website describes the fish as having "brownish-gray coloration with dark spots dorsally and muddy gray ventrally." It also notes that smooth lumpfish lack scales, have soft dorsal and anal rays, and feature a modified pelvic fin that forms a suction-like disc used for clinging to surfaces.
Fedortsov is known for sharing deep-sea oddities from his fishing expeditions, but this latest find has once again captivated the internet, sparking debate over just how alien-like the ocean's depths can truly be.
