A rare fish caught off the South Devon coast is set to be preserved as a specimen in Plymouth’s museum.
Our Miranda, a local beam trawler, caught the 440 gram comber whilst fishing off Start Point and landed it at Plymouth Fisheries.
When staff at the fishery spotted it was unusual they contacted Doug Herdson, a rare fish expert.
Mr Herdson, said: “I go down to the fish market regularly to see what is being caught so I can keep up to date on what’s happening with various species to give me an understanding of fish distribution and fish stocks, and Nick at the fish market found this comber in a catch so I went down to check it out.”
“It’s a very rare specimen and the first one I have ever seen myself; these fish are a fairly obscure species and generally only found in warmer waters, so it’s really unusual for one to turn up off the Devon coast, and an exciting find for Plymouth,” he added.
The species of fish belongs to the Serranidae family, the comber is generally found off south and west Africa in the Mediterranean and out to the Azores.
In the past 150 years, only 50 have turned up in British and Irish waters. The largest comber ever found in the UK, weighing 822 grams, was caught in 1977 in Cornwall.
Pete Bromley, manager of Plymouth Fisheries, concluded: “The comber is an uncommon fish and a very rare find in British waters; we were very happy for Doug to organise for this specimen to find a home in Plymouth Museum, so people living locally will be able to see it for themselves.”
“Combers never get especially big, and this one was of average size. They would make perfectly good eating but they are too small to make much of a meal usually.”
