GLOUCESTER , MASS. (WHDH) - A man who was fishing off Gloucester reeled in a bottom-dwelling creature with distinctive features over the weekend.
Tiago Oliveira shared a photo of the fish on Facebook on Saturday with a caption that read, “Fishing in Gloucester today. Look what I got. I have no idea what it is.”
Barbara Bailey Curator, of Husbandry and Sustainability at the New England Aquarium, identified the fish as a sea raven or Hemitripterus americanus.
Sea ravens have fleshy tabs along the head, a ridged outline of the first dorsal fin, and rugged skin. The particular species varies in color, as it can be dark red, reddish purple, yellowing brown, or dark brown on top. Its underbelly is always pale.
The fish are typically found along the Atlantic coast of North America and frequent rocky or hard substrates at depths ranging from 6 feet to 300 feet.
Oliveira says he stumbled upon the fish on Saturday.
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