Sunday, September 23, 2012

Mystery Fish Identified!

On one of our recent trips to Maine, I spotted a silvery-something in a small eddy. It looked a little like a piece of trash but was a little too shiny.  I asked Bob and the kids if they could see what it was and Bob quickly retrieved a small silvery fish that was on its last legs. Something had tried to take a bite and knocked off a mouth-shaped area of scales. The amazing thing was, despite the fact that it was floating, it was still alive and we could hear a faint grunting sound. We took a photo, which Anna posted a few weeks back, and we spent some time researching on the internet but we didn’t have much luck.
Last week we were at Odiorne State Park’s Seacoast Science Center and I asked one of the Museum guides if he knew what it was. My best and oldest friend Nina was with me and, in her efficient style, quickly pulled up the blog photo. The guide said likely a moon fish but referred me to the fellow that maintains the aquariums who after some thought, decided it might be an African Pompano which would be amazing since the farthest north anyone had seen one was Rhode Island. He also asked me if I was convinced, which of course I said no, and initiated my search again that evening with the knowledge provided and quickly found clear evidence at the following website: Atlantic Moonfish link. It turned out to be the distinctive grunt sound that we would not have witnessed if we had come upon the animal just a few minutes later.  I asked Bob if we could call it a grunt but he said no, there is already a fish called a grunt. Ah well.


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