SEA SERPENT.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 December 1921, Page 6

SEA SERPENT.

REMARKABLE FISH IN QUEENSLAND. Sydney, Nov. 10. A rare and remarkable fish was washed up at Southport, on the south coast, of Queensland, during the past week, and was welcomed at the Brisbane Museum as the first specimen to be obtained by it of a curious species know as ribbon fishes, and technically called the Truchipterus Jacksonensis, first discovered in 1881. Belonging to the family of the Regalecus, which grows to 20ft. in length and is supposed to be the original of sea serpent stories, this particular specimen is about 7ft. long and its general shape justifies its popular name of the ribbon fish. The director of the Museum (Mr. 11. A. Longman) has made a close examination of its peculiarities, and says that Lit is of a burnished silver color with darker reticulations. The body is nine inches deep and not more than two inches thick at the maximum. It has extraordinary eyes, no less than 2|in. in diameter and of the color of quicksilver, with a large vertical dark pupil. The jaws are very protractile, or capable of being thrust forward or retracted, a process of the premaxilla, or front bone, being movable in a groove. There are about ten tiny teeth in both upper and lower jaws. Along the lateral line are a number of plates with small spknes. These very rare ribbon fishes are regarded as being among the most fantastic of all the inhabitants of the sea. They are inoffensive; their teeth being too small to enable them to tackle large prey. Some authorities consider that they only live in very deep water.