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Here's another of my favourite specimens, a hairy anglerfish (Caulophryne polynema). If you look closely you can see a tiny attached parasitic male (on the stomach below the head), and some curious stitching...
I was intrigued by the stitching and discovered that it was almost certainly done by Charles Tate Regan when he described C.polynema based on this specimen in 1930. He opened it up and said the fish inside was probably a "stomatioid, or a Lampanyctus".
I decided to look for myself and we CT scanned the specimen.
I then digitally dissected out the fish inside. Definitely not a stomatioid or a Lampanyctus but what? It's a shame there's no head. The lateral line scales on the tail are interesting though.
My first thought was a Bombay duck (Harpodon spp), it's the right shape, and has LL scales projecting along the caudal fin. The only problem is that they are from the Indian Ocean, not Madeira where the anglerfish comes from.
And then I was stuck. Until this week when I was trying to identify a pencil smelt (Nansenia) and then I noticed this on the caudal fin...
Everything fits! I love my job.
