Cannibalistic lancetfish found on California beach
Long-snouted Lancetfish or Cannibal Fish (Alepisaurus ferox), Alepisauridae, drawing. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - A somewhat mysterious fish known for eating its own species recently washed up on a California shore.
On Friday, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography tweeted about a 4-foot lancetfish that was found on San Diego’s La Jolla Shores last week.
Lancetfish live between the ocean’s surface and about 6,000 feet deep, according to the tweet.
Get your top stories delivered daily! Sign up for FOX 11’s Fast 5 newsletter. And, get breaking news alerts in the FOX 11 News app. Download for iOS or Android.
Lancetfish, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), are "notorious cannibals" that also eat other fish and invertebrates.
Lancetfish are also hermaphrodites, which means they have both male and female sex organs at the same time, according to NOAA.
Lancetfish appear to only start eating their own species when they reach about 3 feet long, according to NBC San Diego.
The station reported that the lancetfish that was found last week is the 17th lancetfish that has been found by or turned into the Scripps Institution of Oceanography since 1947.
Lancetfish appear to only start eating their own species when they reach about 3 feet long, according to NBC San Diego.
The station reported that the lancetfish that was found last week is the 17th lancetfish that has been found by or turned into the Scripps Institution of Oceanography since 1947.
The most recent lancetfish studied by the institution was found in 1996 in Oceanside, California, according to NBC San Diego.
Aside from the lancetfish found on Wednesday, the Scripps Institution for Oceanography also tweeted about a Pacific footballfish that washed up on a beach in San Diego.
Pacific footballfish are one of the largest species of anglerfish and live deeper than 1,000 feet, according to the tweet.
Only about 30 Pacific footballfish are in museums and scientific collections, according to Scripps.
Tune in to FOX 11 Los Angeles for the latest Southern California news.