Trawlers catch ‘elusive’ baby sea creature — a first-of-its-kind find — off Bermuda
Scientists aboard a research vessel off the coast of Bermuda hauled in their net and sorted through the catch. One young sea creature caught their attention.
It turned out to be an “elusive” fish — and a first-of-its-kind catch.
A team of scientists set out on the Walther Herwig III, a German research ship, in 2017 and 2023 for routine surveys of young eels off the southern coast of Bermuda, according to a study published Jan. 2 in the peer-reviewed Journal of Fish Biology.
The team used a fine-mesh trawling net to collect samples at dozens of sites, then studied their catch. During one trawl, they hauled in a small silvery marlin. At another site, they caught what looked like a marlin egg.
Researchers tested the DNA of both samples and realized they’d caught an “elusive species” of marlin known as the roundscale spearfish, researchers said.
The roundscale spearfish, or Tetrapturus georgii, is a poorly known species found in the Atlantic Ocean, the study said. It is so rarely seen and hard to identify that scientists doubted its existence for decades. Much of its lifestyle remains a mystery.
The specimens caught off Bermuda are “the first documented records of an egg and a juvenile” roundscale spearfish, researchers said.
The baby roundscale spearfish measured less than 2 inches and was likely “just a few weeks old,” the study said. Photos show the silvery fish.
The roundscale spearfish egg was also in “an early stage of fertilization” and was likely caught soon after spawning. A photo shows the small egg.
Taken together, the egg and juvenile fish “contribute new insights into the reproductive biology, early life stages, and ecology” of roundscale spearfish. Researchers suggested further surveys to learn more about the species.
A photo from the Thünen Institute in Germany shows the Walther Herwig III research vessel hauling in a trawling net.
Bermuda is a British territory and island archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, roughly 650 miles east of North Carolina.
The research team included Marko Freese, Tina Blancke, Lasse Marohn, Jan-Dag Pohlmann, Josefin Sundin, Klaus Wysujack and Reinhold Hanel.
This story was originally published January 3, 2025 at 9:37 AM with the headline "Trawlers catch ‘elusive’ baby sea creature — a first-of-its-kind find — off Bermuda."
