A somewhat mysterious wild-nature known for wild-nature” target=”_blank”>eating its own species<about a 4-foot lancetfish that was found on San Diego’s La Jolla Shores last week.
Lancetfish live between the ocean’s surface and about 6,000 feet deep,a> according to the tweet.< (NOAA), are “notorious cannibals” that also eat other fish and invertebrates.
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Lancetfish are also hermaphrodites, which means they have both male and female sex organs at the same time, according to NOAA.
Lancetfish appear to only start eating their own species when they reach about 3 feet long, according to NBC San Diego.
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The station reported that the lancetfish that was found last week is the 17th lancetfish that has been found by or turned into the Scripps Institution of Oceanography since 1947.
Lancetfish, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), are "notorious cannibals" that also eat other fish and invertebrates. (iStock)
The most recent lancetfish studied by the institution was found in 1996 in Oceanside, California, according to NBC San Diego.
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Aside from the lancetfish found on Wednesday, the Scripps Institution for Oceanography also tweeted about a Pacific footballfish that washed up on a beach in San Diego.
Pacific footballfish are one of the largest species of anglerfish and live deeper than 1,000 feet, according to the tweet.
Only about 30 Pacific footballfish are in museums and scientific collections, according to Scripps.
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