Last week a rare fanged fish was washed ashore, alive, to Jennette's Pier in Nags Head, North Carolina. Visitors described the fish which was later identified as long-snouted lancetfish as evil-looking.
Long-snouted lancetfish are rarely seen near the shore. They are nocturnal predators and are identified by their large fangs and long dorsal fins. This fish species is also known to eat its own species.
Little is known about their life cycle because they mostly inhabit the open seas. However, in adolescence lancetfish are known to be hermaphrodites but there is no proof of adult hermaphrodites.
They are also called handsaw fish, thanks to their jagged dorsal fin which is prominent in them. The fin runs nearly the entire extent of their back. Their body lacks scales common in almost all fishes giving rise to their scientific name Alepisaurus, which loosely translates to 'scale less lizard'. Their skin is covered by pores instead. They can grow to more than 6.5 feet long and generally feed at night. Their diet consists of squid, crustaceans and other lancetfish.
Lancetfish are not good fish for humans, in fact some fishermen consider them as trash which may sometimes take the bait meant for other profitable fish such as tuna. Their muscles contain huge amounts of water which makes their meat mushy. In the sea, they are preyed upon by sharks, seals and other large fish.
Due to the large amount of water in its muscles, it is unlikely that a lancetfish can move fast to pursue its prey. Scientists think that lancetfish could be an ambush predator or may be it uses its dorsal fin to accelerate over short distances.
They are mostly found in tropical and subtropical seas though they can move north to as far as Greenland and Iceland. When the lancetfish was taken back into the deep sea it was washed again to the shore meaning it could have been sick.
Source : http://yottafire.com/2014/05/the-rare-lancetfish-washed-ashore-in-california/
