A rare animal was found yesterday on a beach in Milazzo, Sicily unicorn fish (Lophotus lacepede), an “abyssal” creature that lives between 200 and 1,000 meters deep and has been sighted a few times in Mediterranean. The stranded specimen died despite attempts to return it to the sea, but will be preserved and exhibited at MuMa (Milazzo Sea Museum). This discovery – which occurred on the beach of Tennis and Sailing Club – will be important for the dissemination and study of the species and local biodiversity. In fact, as highlighted by Carmelo Isgrò – director and founder of MuMa – the animal, which «seems to have come out of a mythological story», will be examined, together with researchers from the Anton Dohrn Zoological Stationto understand the reasons that pushed it to the shoreline and will subsequently be “museumised” inside the Milazzo Castle.
The unicorn fish belongs to the order Lampridiformes (the same as the oarfish) and to the family Lophotidae. It is a strangely shaped sea creature, it is equipped with two huge eyes – necessary to adapt to the darkness of the depths – and of a elongated and ribbon-like silvery-blue body (thin and laterally compressed) which can reach i 2 meters long. In general, however, the specimens spotted are smaller, around one metre. The name “Liocorno” comes from the characteristic fleshy crest – a bump resembling a unicorn appendage – extending from the head to the dorsal fin. The latter is red/pink in color and continues along the entire back of the animal while the other fins, the caudal and anal ones, are very small.
It’s a kind of thing mesopelagicwhich means that it lives in open water at intermediate to high depths (between 200 and a thousand metres), and is rarely found near the surface except when sick or disoriented. The unicorn fish, which spawns egg to reproduce, it is present in the oceans all over the world (Atlantic, Pacific) and in the Mediterranean Sea, but is considered very difficult to encounter. To understand its conservation status, it is monitored in biodiversity lists but, given its nature as an abyssal fish, sightings are sporadic and almost always linked to strandings. For this reason, in IUCN Red Listis classified in the category “Data Lacking” (DD – Data Deficient).
The diet of Lophotus lacepede it is rich in small fish (such as anchovies) And calamari which it captures with its conical, pointed and irregular teeth, arranged in three rows. One of its great peculiarities lies in defense mechanism: this rare creature possesses – in a similar way to cephalopods – a ink bag. If threatened, it can expel a dark liquid from its anus to disorient predators. Precisely when it was found on the beach of Milazzo, the specimen sprayed this defensive fluid.
