Durban - Rocksuckers, that is the name of the 'alien fish' spotted on a beach in Port Alfred, according to the South African Association for Marine Biological Research (Saambr).
Saambr's Ann Kunz said that last year, someone wrote to the association asking whether it could identify what they thought was an “alien fish". Then, over the weekend, they received another request to identify the same species of ”strange fish“.
“Riaan Wood was walking along the beach at Port Alfred when he came across a strange looking fish, which we identified as a clingfish or rocksucker,” Kunz said.
She said that the rocksuckers are cute little fish found in rockpools along the entire South African coastline, as well as in the deep ocean.
"They appear quite ordinary when they are alive, and it is only when they wash up and start to dehydrate that they begin to appear 'alien' and a little scary," Kunz explained.
"As they dehydrate, their 'skin' begins to shrink, causing their lips to move back far enough to expose their strong jaws and large teeth."
Kunz said that rocksuckers feed primarily on limpets and urchins using their powerful muscular suckers to steady themselves on the rocks. As the exoskeletons of the limpets and urchins are difficult to digest, they excrete the entire shells. However, young rocksuckers, which are not yet able to remove limpets, feed on small crustaceans.
She said that they use the sucking disc on their abdomens to cling to rocks, ensuring they do not get washed away by the currents and tides.
"If you come across a creature on the shoreline that you do not recognise and would like us to identify for you, please send your images as well as the location where you found the creature to [email protected]," Kunz added.
Meanwhile, in February, Saambr received a number of calls enquiring about “strange creatures” that had washed up on a number of KZN beaches.
Kunz said that last year around the same time, Hennie Griessel came across the same “strange creatures” while walking with his family along the beach in Richards Bay.
"These 'strange creatures' are in fact salps which are free-floating open ocean creatures with brains, hearts, complex nervous, circulatory and digestive systems that propel themselves through the midwater in long strings or swarms," Kunz said.
She said that although it is difficult for them to say with absolute accuracy why they washed ashore, it is possible that they were brought up to the ocean surface by upwelling before strong onshore winds carried them on to the beaches.
Kunz said that salps are the fastest growing multicellular animals on Earth, and can grow to maturity in 48 hours.
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