Name the Mystery Fish
Posted by: Loren Coleman on November 29th, 2005
Can you identify this mystery fish found on an old postcard?
(Click on image to see full size version)
Is there a Cryptomundo reader out there that can help?
The men in the picture look like military servicemen. The surroundings look like this photograph was taken on a beach or island. The fish appears to be about six feet long (notice the yard or meter stick lying next to it). But where are the fins on this cryptid (or even a tail)? What is it?
Send in a comment if you know what this cryptid fish might be.
Added note: There is nothing on the back of this postcard, except it should be noted that the “Place Stamp Here” box is formed by the letters AZO, which according to the comments below date this card. All the AZO triangles are pointing upward, thus indicating a date for this postcard of 1904-18. It was contributed by a reader (Ms. Phyllis Mancz of Ohio) of Loren’s Cryptozoo News blog at Cryptomundo.
See also “Name the Mystery Fish Continued”.
(Click on image to see full size version, enhanced by shockbeton)
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
What is the wooden structure the men are standing next to? I think it would be useful to know. I see some white cylindrical thinga-ma-jiggers sitting inside of that structure, but I can’t quite make out what any of it is.
I am also intrigued by what appears to be a caudal peduncle at the right end of the creature….which would certainly define it as a fish, and rule out certain species of fishes.
The presence of the AZO stamp block makes this a “real photo postcard“. AZO specifically refers to the to the photographic process. Some other common processes are EKC, KODAK, VELOX, and KRUXO.
There were different types of AZO stamp blocks that can give a rough estimate of age.
AZO triangles pointing up 1904-18
AZO triangles 2 up/ 2 down 1918 on
AZO squares 1927 on
More info here.
Re: Palm Species – There are around 2,600 species of palm tree, so it’s hard enough to get it right without being able to see the trunk or get a good look at the fronds.
At any rate, most palms dwell in tropical and subtropical climates.
I think this photo is a hoax. The photo shows signs of having been doctored, and the “mouth” and “eye” have been drawn in. The “mouth” doesn’t go all the way to the edge of the “head” area and the patterning on the object is showing through the line drawn to suggest a “mouth/gill”. I think what you’ve got is a large leaf from a tropical palm plant probably obtained very close to the locale the photo was taken. I’ll try to come up with a plant species for a possible suspect.
Alright, I’m going to change my mind. These guys may not be active military after all. Assuming this is peacetime, they’re a little too disheveled for Marines. No visible dog tag chains around their necks either. Plus the garbage cans are in disarray – all indicators that these guys are not active military. Is it possible these guys are CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp)? This could be the Everglades.
S
See new info in the “Added Note” at the end of the blog that specifically dates this card to 1904-1918.
It looks like the building is for storing trash cans. There weren’t any plastic trash bags in that era (1904-18), so trash was stored in a screened area to keep the flies to a minimum. My guess is this creature washed up in an area that people needed to use often, (beach? pier?) and was attracting way too many flies, so these guys were charged with hauling it away. Before they chopped it up and put it into the cans someone with a camera stopped them took a picture to send home.
As to what it is? Could it be an early accidental discovery of a megamouth shark?
I vote whale or porpoise with the fins cut off. It’s pictured from the top of the animal with the stripe being dirt from moving it or blood smeared from the blowhole. I think the “stick” is actually one side of a stretcher used to move it.
I would second the vote for lungfish. Although it does appear to be de-scaled and abused, it does look alot like the images on this site.
“they grow to 1.5m in the wild”
From what I can tell, that hat is called a D.I. Hat and it a WWI campaign hat. It’s very likely that this photo was taken during or around the time of WWI.
If, as Swamp Thing said, the AZO, “denotes the type of paper and dye-process,” then perhaps this postcard was printed after WWI (which ended in 1918) by a printer using older equipment.
I tend to agree with Skeptical…’s comment that these guys look pretty disheveled for Marines, but don’t forget that (A) this was in a very different time from now, so perhaps their C.O. wasn’t as strict, and (B) they seem to be in a fairly remote location, so there’s a chance that they’re slacking off for lack of an enemy presence.
Ello, Just to add my own thoughts on the image.
If you zoom in on the pole about a foot and a half from the left end I see something wrapped around the pole and going under the creature which makes me think the pole wasn’t used for measurement but as a makeshift stretcher(sp) to carry it. Seems like something army people would do.
Also you zoom in to were the slit that resembles a mouth starts to curve upward and look up you’ll see to what looks like wet streak(blood?) running down into the gash. I think this could be a gun shot wound. Notice on the wet streak the color striping on the creature stands out again. Which makes me think this thing was dragged through the beach all wet and is covered in sand which could cause people to assume the creature is lighter in color than it truly is.
also the striping of it to me resembles the pattern a tiger shark has.
It looks like a coelocanth to me. The bony head is characteristic of primitive lungfish. the size fits as well.
Surprised no one has mentioned tarpon.
If the photo shows the bottom and part of the left side of a slightly decomposed tarpon, much of this mystery animal seems resolved. The gill slit and eye are in the right location and orientation, the anal fin, the shape of the tail — and also the location (presumably Florida Keys or Gulf Coast).
The odd shape of the underside of the lower jaw accounts for what looks to some of us like a salamander or shark’s head. And I may be imagining but it looks the mouth itself just in front of the eye.
The habitat is all wrong for a Neoceratodus lungfish….and I am quite certain that photo was taken nowhere near the Australian interior.
Again, as far as size goes, compare the size of the creature’s head with the leg of the middle man (who appears to have his foot nearly touching it)….unless than man is very short, the head alone of the creature must be a good 24″/0.6m….I would estimate the creature’s entire length to be in the 7′-8′(2.1m-2.4m) range, assuming there is not additinal tail structure outside the right edge of camera range.
prc8895 brings up an excellent point about the potential gunshot wound…I can see easily how it could be, and it would seem to fit with typical activity of military at leisure in that period.
…the Dorsalectus elusivii?
Another comment about the men – the guy on the far left is wearing a leather belt, not a military issue one. These guys may have been vets but I still don’t think they were active military at the time the photo was taken. As to those proposing a WWI time frame, the clothes are definitely too modern for the teens. I’m still betting late 30s to early 40s.
Just as a note, the Civilian Conservation Corp was in the Everglades circa 1935. Here’s a link to a photo of a CCC worker wearing a military style uniform not unlike what we’re seeing:
I can’t tell you what the animal is, looks kinda like a shark to me, BUT, judging by the date of the postcard, the mens dress and the palm trees I’d say it’s Panama during the “teens”. The campaign hat was worn as far back as the Spanish-American war. The two guys on the right are wearing the correct uniform pants and web belts for that era. The fella on the left is wearing civilian pants, a leather belt and the old millitary “high top” shoes (civilian personel?). The “cylindical objects in the shed are trash cans and I’d assume that they’re military since they are so bright and shiny (keep em clean soldier!). The Panama Canal was opened in August of 1914 and guarded by the U.S. military during and after construction until we gave it back to Panama a few years ago. I’d look for an animal native to that area, remembering that the canal also connected to both oceans. Also, after enlarging the picture, it looks like the mouth was raggedly cut towards the back of the head with a knife. The “stick” on the ground is round and is probably a tent pole.
it’s in florida,my guess is west coast(as opposed to keys or everglades).the enclosure is indeed full of metal trash cans,they’re enclosed to cut down on…pestilence.if you lived in florida at the turn of the century,you’d keep your trash screened-in too.the fish is a tiger shark(note the markings and the distinctive blunted snout).the roundish injury near the head is where the pectoral fin was chewed/ripped off,the wound is that shape because a shark’s fin sort of “hooks” on(e.g.,the fin appears to be wider than that at its base,but is actually only connected by a comparatively small amount of tissue at the front of the fin).and the mouth is gashed or ripped,as previously stated,and looks like the tear went up into one of the gills.hence the friendly smile.nifty postcard,even if it isn’t a cryptocritter.
I am now inclined to agree with wintermute….having looked at a number of photos of beached young tigersharks, the consicuously large head, head-shape, narrow, tapering body, and certainly the pattern, all seem to fit well…it would appear that this shark’s fins have been mostly cut off/fallen off.
I’ve superimposed a photo of a modern tarpon above the mystery fish, and I’m convinced we’re looking at a rotted tarpon, somewhere along the Gulf, possibly Florida.
I’m unable to post the photo. I can email a jpeg.
OOH Rah Semper Fishing!
The man in the middle with the obvious campaigning hat on with the usmc’s eagle globe and anchor leads me to believe this is from the P.I. and the early 20th battles fought there. I know giant silurids (catfish) inhabit the Mekong river of S.E. Asia, so that will have to be my guess that one is native to the Philipines. If not for the foliage I would have said a wels from the danube river of Europe. As with most cryptids, I guess this will remain a mystery for now! Thanx Loren for the great site and another mystery! -Tod Foulk
Looking at the head along, it looks like some type of snake that has been genetically altered with a eel.
It’s very easy to imagine that you are looking at a shark from above and that the “mouth” that appears to be stretched so far is actually a gash on top of the sharks head. The fins are missing but that doesn’t change the “shark seen from above” shape for me. It does look skinned.
I think that it was a juvenile Pacific Sleeper Shark (Somniosus pacificus) caught off somewhere near southern Japan.
looks a lot like a newly discovered extinct species. recently appeared on national geographic.com nicknamed “Godzilla” (Dakosaurus andiniensis), it seems to be a cross between a fish and a crocodile. check out the artist rendering on the page. very close.
If you look closely at the floridsurffishing photo, the mystery fish appears to be a much larger tarpon photographed from an oreintation similar enough to be instructive.
What looks SO much like a mouth in the older photo is a streak of blood running from the gill across the lower jaw. The mouth itself, which appears to have deteriorated, is not visible, but open slightly and pointed roughly at the left knee of the guy in the hat. My superimosed photo retouches out this blood streak, and makes it very plain that the placement, shape, and orientation of the gill slit and the bony plate between the gill and the eye are consistent with a tarpon.
Once it’s clear A) that the mystery fish is in a fairly advanced state of decomposition, especially about the head, and to an extent which can account for the discoloration of the flank, and B) that the blood streak is not a mouth, nor is it connected to a mouth, THEN you can see the major identifiers:
— the size, shape, and placement in relation to each other of the eye, the gill, the bloody wound where the pectoral fin used to be, the anal fin (slightly extended under the pole — which would sensibly be a gaff hook for hauling the carcass), and the base of the tail (which is very UNlike a tiger shark’s).
Verdict: tarpon.
I’m guessing an eel. Maybe a Giant Moray. Could be a kind of Snakehead or Tarpon as well.
I don’t think it’s skinned. It looks striated to me.
I have no idea what the animal is, but if those are U.S. servicemen in short sleeves on a sunny beach during 1904-18, they were most likely in Mexico, the Philippines, or China. (It’s clearly not a known crocodilian, skinned or otherwise, since the head is all wrong.)
I’m just wondering: What makes people think this is a fish? Seriously! Is it because the original submitter of the photo thought the subjects were on an island?
Every time I look at this photo I *cannot* see a fish there. I keep seeing a giant snake’s head.
Anyone familiar with trick photography and it’s history? If this is a postcard, who’s to say it’s not something like: ‘Greetings from the Mexico! Seen here: Tom, Dick and Harry, proudly displaying their trophy “Pygmy Rattler”.’ (insert canned laughter).
Think about it.
Everyone is looking at this wrong.
The actual mouth is really short, only about 6 inches long. It exists only at the initial sharp tapering of the head, in the shadowed part. The long line that looks like a huge mouth is a smear or gash. The thing that looks like a big eye is not the creature’s actual eye. The actual eye is that dark spot just above the back corner of the real mouth.
It is almost certainly a shark of some sort.
The black splatter at the bottom front is where the pectoral fin was removed. The fins were probably cut off for shark fin soup. Just above the pectoral splatter you can see what is probably the gill slits, just in front of the “grin” on the fake-mouth.
Consider the lumber of the structures. I am no expert but I think planks of that width and knot pattern would have to come from North America. Tropical lumber doesn’t have knots like that and even at the turn of the century, I don’t think trees of that size were very common outside of North America. Indeed, one of the most important products of the new world was timber large enough to be used for ship masts. So unless this lumber was shipped across the ocean I’m guessing we’re in North America – perhaps Florida. Otherwise, we would expect to see tin structures or teak structures, or even bamboo.
Nah, Looks more like a HIPPO….its a Hiponafish. Step back and look at the long jaw and the small eyes…it a Hipona…….Hih-pon-a-fish.
I think there is too little to go on. If it is an animal as opposed to a carving then it is clearly decayed/hacked about. The darkened regions which appear to correspond to nostril, eye and mouth are seemingly irreconciliable with a fish (fish typically have round eyes) and small often flapped “nostrils”. The chunky head doesn’t seem very fishlike either.
but it could be anything really
Charles
I’ve been reading this since yesterday. I looked at the enhanced image. Could it be nothing more than a papier mache mock up for a party or something?
The dark splatter just to the right of the blood smear “smile” on the head seems to have 3D substance and a shadow, maybe like a small plant on the ground, although there don’t seem to be too many other small plants on that beach.
I’m still not above calling this some sort of primitive (in a digital world sense) hoax. There appear to be blurred areas on the creature that might have been an attempt at hiding certain features, such as fins. Alternatively, this thing could simply be quite decayed. I saw a beached whale once that looked very little like an actual whale.
Snakehead… Snakehead… Snakehead…
-imho-
the ‘snake-or-shark’ head
is an enlarged and photo-tricked image
attached to the torso of a Manatee.
the completed ‘fishy-fish’ is closer to 8 1/2 feet in length.
by quickly looking at the clues, we can deduce the screened shelter has 8″X24″ boards at bottom(per 30″ garbage cans)
– 36″ screening above (which totals to ~5’6″ (eyelevel of marine at corner).
-the shelters’ doorway is ~6’2″
(compare to civilian, mud-marshall?,
who is the tallest of the 3 people shown)
Also, Marines #1 & #2 appear to be ‘uncomfortably’ close to the doctored image…but they would be within a ‘distance zone’ if the actual torso & head of a decomposing Manatee was the real body they were standing next to.
photo doctoring is my opinion
Maybe its the long extinct ancient crocodile – Dakosaurus Andiniensis – which has a head like a bullet and the body of a crocodile
I asked my son if he could name the mystery fish and he replied,
“Nemo”.
He’s only just turned 6.
The eye (if that’s what it is) is too far back from the snout to be a snakehead. Looks more shark-like at the head (if viewed from the top, mouth mostly hidden). But the tail and body are un-shark-like. Leaning toward hoax.
You know what it looks like? It looks like they made it out of sand. Took a picture and set a yard stick to either show how big the “sand fish” was, or take the picture to see if they could fool someone, but I doubt that cause they probably didnt know how the picture would have turned out, so I think they just did it for fun and was showing how big their art work was.
Ikerus
I don’t understand how there can be a shadow on the shack (near the right edge of the image) that does not fall across the fish-monster.
Count me among to hoax voters.
In response to photodoctoring, one thing that stands out is that the shadows are rather long, and the head casts a shadow over the man in the hat’s feet.
To get shadows that long, the sun would have to be very close to the horizon, such as near and ocean on the western side of something close to sunset or eastern close to dawn.
Three things to point out, a) The fish is on a board of some type which rules out the made from sand theory, b) the shack is for water storage, and c) the picture was most probably taken in Australia or New Zealand.
Although it is infact a sea creature of some type, the fish was most probably brought to the location the photo was taken, which is not near water, which goes back to my point about the water storage. We are looking at a picture that could have been taken between 1933-1943, therefore, not everyone had a bathroom in the home and fresh water was pumped, especially in a region with the trees I can just barely make out in the pic that resemble palm trees.
I’ve been staring at this photo for too long. The scene is wetlands near the equator. Notice the water marshes in the background in the upper right. The animal is almost certainly not the entire animal. Likely remains which were found floating in the water or mostly submerged.
The remains sit on a gurney (notice the pole…looks like an early 20th century gurney). I sincerely believe I could write an entire chapter of a book on this photo alone. I’m looking at the head and front parts (neck) of an anaconda which was very likely 30 to 35 feet long when alive. It is partially decomposed, which means the men found it as is. Perhaps it died of old age and was feasted on by other animals.
If you look to the right and what might at first appear to be a “tail”; it seems upon further inspection that there’s a retention wall (perhaps going to a dock) that the end of the remains we can’t see are hanging out of view from.
So what are people’s final opinions on location? France? South Pacific? Phillipines? Trinidad? Brazil? Oz? New Zealand? Where?
Florida, Hawaii, or South Pacific….somewhere amongst the three, although so far, impossible to be more precise.
The head looks like a shark or a big honking python (anaconda, say). It looks like the pectoral fin has been removed, and the animal has been gutted, or has had a chance to decompose a touch.
I think it’s in Panama.
This “fish” appears to be a de-finned body of a white sturgeon, with the attached skull of a small cetacean (whale); whale skulls have that characteristic smiley face. Trouble is, I can’t isolate the species of whale, due to the very tiny eyeholes in that skull. A Japanese salamander can grow to 1.5 meters in length, but its skull is quite porous, skull holes (fenestrae) are everywhere.