In Australia, fishermen caught a rare king herring, which, according to beliefs, portends cataclysms, reports the Daily Mail, quoted by FOCUS.
The photo of the three-meter fish was posted by Curtis Peterson, a pleasure boat captain for Tiwi Islands Adventures. In the published shot, he, together with one of the cruise participants, holds in his hands the amazing fish with a long narrow body and a horse-like head, as well as eyes "the size of saucers".
The release states that the king herring was accidentally caught off the coast of Australia's Northern Territory. Northern Territory News fishing columnist Alex Julius says this is an extremely rare catch for the region.
"This is the first time I've heard that someone managed to catch such a fish here. In general, it's very rare to catch them - usually their remains are washed ashore," he says.
Some viewers of Fishing Australia TV, which also posted a photograph of the king herring on its social media page, questioned the authenticity of the fish. They assume the footage isn't real. Others write that the fish looks a lot like a giant seahorse, specified by the Daily Mail, quoted by Bulgarian media.
The king herring is considered one of the most unusual fish in the world's oceans. It has a snake-like body, the length of which can reach 11 meters. There are reports of specimens up to 15 meters long, but their authenticity has not been confirmed.
They spend most of their lives at a depth of more than 900 meters and almost never rise to the surface. Only three species of these fish are known to ichthyologists.
Since ancient times, it has been believed that the appearance of the royal herring on the surface of the water is a sign of impending cataclysm. Notably, before the devastating 2011 earthquake in Japan, about two dozen of these fish washed up on the country's beaches.