Russians find a 100kg Alien

Kwonryu DragonFist · Post by **Kwonryu DragonFist** » February 8, 2007, 2:02 am

and eats it

http://english.pravda.ru/science/myster ... _monster-0

Leonaerd · Post by **Leonaerd** » February 8, 2007, 2:50 am

Uh huhhhh.

Kwonryu DragonFist · Post by **Kwonryu DragonFist** » February 8, 2007, 9:06 am

A spokesman for the Rostov-based zoo, Alexander Lipkovich, contacted local ichthyologists and asked their opinion about the Azov alien.

“They said that the fish bears resemblance to a sturgeon. It was an extremely interesting individual. I have never seen anything like this before in my whole life,” the specialist said.

Al · Post by Al » February 8, 2007, 10:55 am

The picture and video make it appear to me to be a deep sea ray. The "face" on the back of its head is extremely reminiscent of the Butterfly Ray (Gymnuridae) Family, and its posterior resembles an elongated Electric Ray (Torpediniformes) Family member. I would say it is certainly a ray of some sort, most likely a deep sea dweller that is rarely in contact with humans. And I'm sure it tasted great!

And for the record, I do not believe that is a sturgeon of any type, and the icthyologist they contacted is either ill informed or an idiot. A verbal description of the creature is the only way I can believe that they honestly thought it was a sturgeon without also believing that they are an idiot.

Edit: The protrusion from the snout appears to belong to the Skate (Rajidae) Family, which is also a member of the Order Rajiformes, along with all rays and ray-related creatures. In conlusion, I would say it certainly belongs to the Order Rajiformes, ruling out any chance of it being a sturgeon (sturgeon = ray-finned fish Class Actinopterygii, rays/sharks/skates etc. = cartilaginous fish Class Chondrichthyes)

Arborealus · Post by **Arborealus** » February 8, 2007, 11:15 am

Al wrote:The picture and video make it appear to me to be a deep sea ray. The "face" on the back of its head is extremely reminiscent of the Butterfly Ray (Gymnuridae) family, and its posterior resembles an elongated Electric Ray (Torpediniformes) family member. I would say it is certainly a ray of some sort, most likely a deep sea dweller that is rarely in contact with humans. And I'm sure it tasted great!

And for the record, I do not believe that is a sturgeon of any type, and the icthyologist they contacted is either ill informed or an idiot. A verbal description of the creature is the only way I can believe that they honestly thought it was a sturgeon without also believing that they are an idiot.

Well said...but you've never seen the underside of a sturgeon...

...It very clearly is one from the photo alone...That "face" is on the ventral side...

... and you will never find a skate or ray with pectorals...or pelvics that bony....

Look a lot like Ascipincer oxyrhynchus morphologically but it "shouldn't" be maybe it is a Cherynobyl Sturgeon...

Here is a meh ventral photo for comparison http://courses.washington.edu/vertebra/ ... entral.jpg

And a one oriented as the story photo is
http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/sgs/stur ... lview.html

The "eye" areas in the story photo are not eyes but the inferior sinuses where the barbels attach. Heh they oriented the paired barbels to overlap making them look like pupils...

Al · Post by Al » February 8, 2007, 11:32 am

Arborealus wrote:
Al wrote:The picture and video make it appear to me to be a deep sea ray. The "face" on the back of its head is extremely reminiscent of the Butterfly Ray (Gymnuridae) family, and its posterior resembles an elongated Electric Ray (Torpediniformes) family member. I would say it is certainly a ray of some sort, most likely a deep sea dweller that is rarely in contact with humans. And I'm sure it tasted great!

And for the record, I do not believe that is a sturgeon of any type, and the icthyologist they contacted is either ill informed or an idiot. A verbal description of the creature is the only way I can believe that they honestly thought it was a sturgeon without also believing that they are an idiot.
Well said...but you've never seen the underside of a sturgeon......It very clearly is one from the photo alone...That "face" is on the ventral side...... and you will never find a skate or ray with pectorals...or pelvics that bony....

Look a lot like Ascipincer oxyrhynchus morphologically but it "shouldn't" be maybe it is a Cherynobyl Sturgeon...

Here is a meh ventral photo for comparison http://courses.washington.edu/vertebra/ ... entral.jpg

It doesn't appear to have any bony protrusions along its body, nor any barbels (the tentacle things near the mouth, a characteristic of all members of the Acipenser Genus). Without a specimen to examine, no one can say for sure. I am sold on it being a cartilaginous fish, though.

Al · Post by Al » February 8, 2007, 11:35 am

Bah... I suppose those could be barbels. I still don't think it is a sturgeon, but I cannot say for sure without examining a specimen myself.

Edit: Stupid Russians! This whole thing would be solved if they showed the entire fish, top and bottom.

Arborealus · Post by **Arborealus** » February 8, 2007, 11:40 am

Al wrote:
Arborealus wrote:
Al wrote:The picture and video make it appear to me to be a deep sea ray. The "face" on the back of its head is extremely reminiscent of the Butterfly Ray (Gymnuridae) family, and its posterior resembles an elongated Electric Ray (Torpediniformes) family member. I would say it is certainly a ray of some sort, most likely a deep sea dweller that is rarely in contact with humans. And I'm sure it tasted great!

And for the record, I do not believe that is a sturgeon of any type, and the icthyologist they contacted is either ill informed or an idiot. A verbal description of the creature is the only way I can believe that they honestly thought it was a sturgeon without also believing that they are an idiot.
Well said...but you've never seen the underside of a sturgeon......It very clearly is one from the photo alone...That "face" is on the ventral side...... and you will never find a skate or ray with pectorals...or pelvics that bony....

Look a lot like Ascipincer oxyrhynchus morphologically but it "shouldn't" be maybe it is a Cherynobyl Sturgeon...

Here is a meh ventral photo for comparison http://courses.washington.edu/vertebra/ ... entral.jpg
It doesn't appear to have any bony protrusions along its body, nor any barbels (the tentacle things near the mouth, a characteristic of all members of the Acipenser Genus). Without a specimen to examine, no one can say for sure. I am sold on it being a cartilaginous fish, though.

Ermmm the bony protrusions are dorsal on sturgeons...this photo and the film are ventral...note the vent by the pelvics which are pretty clearly ray-finned...

...The barbels are there over the inferior sinuses...

Arborealus · Post by **Arborealus** » February 8, 2007, 11:49 am

I caught a lot of Sturgeons back in my Icthyology days...

...I thought sturgeon instantly...those sinuses are a dead give away on fresh specimens they lighten when preserved in formalin though...

I agree that a dorsal photo would clear it up with great certainty...but then it wouldn't make a good "Enquirer"esque photo...

Oh and at 100kg that would be a huge skate/ray...but a pretty common sturgeon weight.

It is an odd morph though...but they hybridize like mad...so maybe Oxyrhynchus in the mix...

cadalano · Post by **cadalano** » February 8, 2007, 12:15 pm

hey jacque cousteau and steve zissou... could you two please stop derailing this shit?

back on track: This alien creature is obviously an advanced scout for an invasion force, possibly here to forcibly liberate their less evolved brethren from earth and return them to their native planet Fishton-7. What is everyones opinion on how advanced their technology is? Can our primitive bullets stop them?

Al · Post by Al » February 8, 2007, 12:20 pm

Arborealus wrote:Oh and at 100kg that would be a huge skate/ray...but a pretty common sturgeon weight.

It would be large, but many skates, rays and sawfish can be upwards of 2000 pounds. I just figured the weight could be a selling point. It didn't look like a 100kg fish in the video, maybe 50. It looked to be about 5 1/2-6 feet long, snout to fin, and maybe 1 foot wide. Most of the length appeared to be caudal peduncle, although that term is normally reserved for the section behind the aft-most fins (anal or adipose) and before the caudal (tail) fin.
I would love to see more pictures of this, although that is a pipe dream. I am very curious as to what it actually is.

Al · Post by Al » February 8, 2007, 12:22 pm

cadalano wrote:hey jacque cousteau and steve zissou... could you two please stop derailing this shit?

back on track: This alien creature is obviously an advanced scout for an invasion force, possibly here to forcibly liberate their less evolved brethren from earth and return them to their native planet Fishton-7. What is everyones opinion on how advanced their technology is? Can our primitive bullets stop them?

Bullets? Absolutely not. We need hooks and nets, and lots of them!

Post by **Sylvus** » February 8, 2007, 12:45 pm

I've never seen a fish-nerd fight! Carry on.

Kilmoll the Sexy · Post by **Kilmoll the Sexy** » February 8, 2007, 2:29 pm

The only thing that can stop this invasion is tartar sauce and hush puppies. Lots and lots of it.

Arborealus · Post by **Arborealus** » February 8, 2007, 6:32 pm

Small Spoons and Toast!

Kill 'em young!

masteen · Post by **masteen** » February 8, 2007, 7:48 pm

We need 100 tons of sour cream and about 400,000 blinis!