
Cannibalistic lancetfish washes up on a San Diego beach, the first one preserved there since 1996
CNN
Beachgoers discovered a 4-foot lancetfish washed up near the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California, San Diego Tuesday. Although not particularly rare, researchers noted it was the first lancetfish preserved by the institution since 1996, and only the 17th preserved from a San Diego beach since 1947.
The finding comes just a week after a Pacific footballfish -- a deep-sea anglerfish much rarer than the lancetfish -- washed up about three miles away on Black's Beach.
The fish, whose catalog name is SIO 21-37, is the newest addition to the SIO's Vertebrate Collection. Manager Ben Frable told CNN the fish was found at La Jolla Shores alive but didn't survive once on land. It had been "bombarded by seagulls," according to Frable. SIO 21-37, though, will be preserved for possibly hundreds of years.