New fish appears in Croatian waters, expert warns: “It’s not edible!”

Tetragonurus cuvieri – illustration (Photo: Print – Iconographia Zoologica – Special Collections University of Amsterdam/Public domain)

An unknown fish 20 cm long was caught near the island of Šipan, 17 km northwest of Dubrovnik, and was immediately reported by the fishermen to the Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries in Split.

The specimen has not been analysed yet, but N1 asked the opinion of Dr. Branko Dragičević, senior scientific associate of the laboratory for ichthyology and coastal fishing of the Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries in Split.

“Although we have not yet analysed the specimen (we are in contact with the fisherman), we are quite sure that it is the Tetragonurus cuvieri species, Dr. Dragičević said, before adding.

“The same has already been recorded earlier in the Adriatic, but only in the territory of Albania, and this is the first time that it has also been recorded in Croatian waters. It is a species that is widespread in warm and temperate areas of all the world’s oceans, as well as in the Mediterranean Sea, where it is considered very rare. Not much is known about its biology, but it is known that its diet consists of gelatinous organisms such as jellyfish, ribs and mantlefish, which is helped by a specially adapted mouth apparatus with teeth for catching gelatinous prey. 

The fish is considered inedible. It reaches a length of approximately 70 cm, and the specimen caught here was about 20 cm long,” Dr. Dragičević told N1.

You can see a photo here.