Pelagic Species ID

Hi All,

I'm on a deadline and could do with some help Identifying some of these subjects, i don't have access to my ID books at the moment so i'd appreciate the help! Shot in the Indian Ocean.

About 50cm long - and a close up:

next:

I think it's a juvenile Silky but would like a second opinion.

Then this handsome fish:

Upto 2 meters long.

Then this is a bit of an oddity..

A huge squid i guess... but any idea what kind?

Thanks in advance for any help... If anyone is wondering what happened to the sharks:

This guy is cool:

I think he is a longnose lancetfish - Alepisaurus ferox. Cool, sounds like a dinosaur!

Alex

Assuming that is a tuna boat, I'd bet the first 2 are pics of a shark called the Pseudocarcharias #%$%# (ok I can't remember the full name, Si, but you don't remember the name of that girl at the club either ). It's a common bycatch from tuna boats around the world. I've seen a few on tuna longline boats. Gorgeous eyes.

3rd one looks like a silky but can't tell the tail.

Thanks Boys

Oh and Drew those days are over for now, i've met someone that even you might approve of

Thanks Boys

 

Oh and Drew those days are over for now, i've met someone that even you might approve of

First looks like a cookie cutter shark. Isistius brasiliensis.

I agree that looks like a silky.

Sucks, I thought most of the southern tuna longliners were shutting down because of high gas prices... when were these taken? Since most of the longliners take shark fins too, I was hoping that would also be mitigated with the high has prices... :-(

-Wyatt

Wow, these are cool! I wanna know more... Have you been out diving from a long line boat or something?

Wyatt

I have to disagree. The cookie cutter has the dorsal fins farther back and the pelvic fins are larger than the dorsal. This is much more likely the Pseudocarcharias $#^&%& (because I still can't remember the full name and refuse to google).

Of course all this confusion is really the fault of Simon who couldn't bother to pick up the fish and take proper bloody pictures for id.

Of course i wasn't going to pick them up, they were smelly and still alive!

Thanks again folks for the further input - we did have some cookie cutter action on some other fish but i don't think that particular image is one, i'll be able to check further when i get back from Sing/Jakarta next week.

Hmm, Pseudocarcharias kamoharai if anyone else needs closure on the Shark.

Wyatt

I have to disagree. The cookie cutter has the dorsal fins farther back and the pelvic fins are larger than the dorsal. This is much more likely the Pseudocarcharias $#^&%& (because I still can't remember the full name and refuse to google).

Of course all this confusion is really the fault of Simon who couldn't bother to pick up the fish and take proper bloody pictures for id.

Yea, my bad, cookie cutter only has the dorsals wayyyy back there ... As for Pseudocarcharias, wiki calls it a "Crocodile Shark"? Sounds like it needs a new common name!

-Wyatt

Wow, I can't get over the size of the teeth on the third one, a Longnose Lancetfish, Alex called it.

Those teeth look like they could do some serious damage.

They are pretty sharp but the jaw is very weak, it breaks off with a tug of the hook/line.

I had a 2 meter one swim into me and i %#!! myself, but fortunately they show little interest. The Portuguese man of war that went across my wrist left a more noticeable impression - a nice purple scar

The sad thing about this thread is that no matter where on the fish the dorsal fin started out, it ends up in the bucket

Roger

The sad thing about this thread is that no matter where on the fish the dorsal fin started out, it ends up in the bucket

 

Roger

well said