# Mystery fish found in Utah **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 5, 2008, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-fish-found-in-utah/444045 "2008-04-05T05:08:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-fish-found-in-utah/444045/1 "2008-04-05T05:08:41Z")
[http://www.wlbz2.com/news/watercooler/article.aspx?storyid=84089](http://www.wlbz2.com/news/watercooler/article.aspx?storyid=84089) At first I thought it might be a snakehead, an invasive species that’s know for wiping out the local fish. But it’s not. The article says it might be a lake trout. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-fish-found-in-utah/444045/2 "2008-04-05T05:40:35Z")
It’s a fox with mange. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-fish-found-in-utah/444045/3 "2008-04-05T06:18:31Z")
I guess with some species, ugliness has an evolutionary advantage. (Yeah, I know, eye of the beholder, blah blah blah.) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-fish-found-in-utah/444045/4 "2008-04-05T11:13:57Z")
[QUOTE=panache45] I guess with some species, ugliness has an evolutionary advantage. (Yeah, I know, eye of the beholder, blah blah blah.) [/QUOTE] No-no-no. [THIS](http://www.zakna.com/ddm/deathknell/images/beholder.jpg) is the eye of the Beholder. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-fish-found-in-utah/444045/5 "2008-04-05T14:42:44Z")
How is it the “biologists” say it’s not a new species, yet they can’t identify it. How do they know? ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-fish-found-in-utah/444045/6 "2008-04-05T14:51:34Z")
If I make break a lance for the fish, it surely looks hideously ugly, but I bet it have more charms before being dead on the pond for who knows how long, dragged out of the water, chewed up by some very, very desperately hungry animal and run over by cars. That would make a dent in anyone. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-fish-found-in-utah/444045/7 "2008-04-05T17:57:04Z")
The news lady on the vid ends by saying it’s safe to say the restocking won’t include aquarium fish or that needle-toothed thing. Yeah, sure, doll! That stuff always happens. Over the fall and winter, Indianapolis drained their downtown canal, removed all the fish to the White River, and scraped out all the muck and algae. They had no plans to put back any fish. On the very first day of the refilling, an old man and his granddaughter were spotted dumping goldfish into the clean canal. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-fish-found-in-utah/444045/8 "2008-04-06T00:25:15Z")
Utah Jesus fish – the rapture is nigh! ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-fish-found-in-utah/444045/9 "2008-04-06T00:27:38Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] How is it the “biologists” say it’s not a new species, yet they can’t identify it. How do they know? [/QUOTE] He lost his wallet? Also, I’d eat it. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-fish-found-in-utah/444045/10 "2008-04-06T01:55:56Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] How is it the “biologists” say it’s not a new species, yet they can’t identify it. How do they know? [/QUOTE] Because the chances are exceedingly remote that a species new to science would be found in a pond in an urban park. That immediate area has been surveyed by biologists for over 100 years. It’s not really feasible that a truly unknown species would be discovered there. It is far far more likely that it is a local known species that is difficult to identify because the specimen is in bad shape, or because it is an exotic species that someone dumped in the pond. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-fish-found-in-utah/444045/11 "2008-04-06T02:02:37Z")
It’s likely a dessicated walleye. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-fish-found-in-utah/444045/12 "2008-04-06T02:03:16Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] No-no-no. [THIS](http://www.zakna.com/ddm/deathknell/images/beholder.jpg) is the eye of the Beholder. [/QUOTE] [THIS](http://www.greengoblin.com/internal/corner/shark.html) is the ultimate eye of the beholder. Voted sea creature most likely to get picked last for kickball every time. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-fish-found-in-utah/444045/13 "2008-04-06T11:44:49Z")
[QUOTE=Cosmic Relief] [THIS](http://www.greengoblin.com/internal/corner/shark.html) is the ultimate eye of the beholder. Voted sea creature most likely to get picked last for kickball every time. [/QUOTE] No, that is the _Nose Wart_ of the beholder. Or a member of the scholl fencing team, I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-fish-found-in-utah/444045/14 "2008-04-06T16:40:41Z")
The skull of the [cutthroat trout](http://www.d91.k12.id.us/skyline/teachers/robertsd/cuthroat.jpg) features a suspiciously similar snaggle-toothed appearance. It’s the state fish of Utah, though; so I presume that state wildlife biologists would be able to identify one even if it had been run over several times. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-fish-found-in-utah/444045/15 "2008-04-06T17:30:32Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] It’s a fox with mange. [/QUOTE] 😃 😃 😃 ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-fish-found-in-utah/444045/16 "2008-04-06T17:58:47Z")
[QUOTE=Cosmic Relief] [THIS](http://www.greengoblin.com/internal/corner/shark.html) is the ultimate eye of the beholder. Voted sea creature most likely to get picked last for kickball every time. [/QUOTE] Well, that still looks less weird than [heliocoprion](http://www.karencarr.com/tmpl1.php?CID=396). Ugly, but less weird. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-fish-found-in-utah/444045/17 "2008-04-06T18:12:18Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] Well, that still looks less weird than [heliocoprion](http://www.karencarr.com/tmpl1.php?CID=396). Ugly, but less weird. [/QUOTE] WTF?! That’s the strangest fish I’ve ever seen bar none. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-fish-found-in-utah/444045/18 "2008-04-06T18:20:50Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] Well, that still looks less weird than [heliocoprion](http://www.karencarr.com/tmpl1.php?CID=396). Ugly, but less weird. [/QUOTE] Looking at that picture I half expect to see it whooping and wolf-whistling at a pack of girl sharks. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-fish-found-in-utah/444045/19 "2008-04-06T18:37:44Z")
Paleological sharks are fascinating. And when I say “fascinating” I mean “their fossils have caused headaches, heartaches, and nervous prostration in certain members of the paleologist community.” Of course, the paleo-sharks are less confusing than [paleo-worms](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucigenia)… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-fish-found-in-utah/444045/20 "2008-04-06T19:19:56Z")
[QUOTE=Cosmic Relief] [THIS](http://www.greengoblin.com/internal/corner/shark.html) is the ultimate eye of the beholder. Voted sea creature most likely to get picked last for kickball every time. [/QUOTE] Looks like it has dental coverage in Great Britain.