GIANT MOONFISH SURFACES. A 65-kg. Opah fish is caught in Oras, Eastern Samar hours after the strong quake that rattled the central Philippines on Tuesday (Aug. 18, 2020). Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources 8 (Eastern Visayas) Director Juan Albaladejo said the earthquake shock waves could have “spooked” the giant fish, causing it to surface on shallow waters in Tubabao Island in Oras. (Photo courtesy of Ranilo Ebron)
TACLOBAN CITY – A fisherman caught a deep-sea giant fish in Oras, Eastern Samar, hours after the strong quake that rattled the central Philippines on Tuesday.
Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) 8 (Eastern Visayas) Director Juan Albaladejo said there is a big possibility that earthquake shockwaves “spooked” the Opah fish, causing it to surface on shallow waters in Tubabao Island in Oras town.
Fisherman Armando Amos of the town's Sta. Monica village caught the fish through hook and line.
The 65-kg. fish, commonly known as moonfish, is a deep-water species found 500 meters deep into the sea.
The Opah (scientific name Lampris guttatus) is a warm-blooded fish, which makes it a high-performance predator that swims faster and sees better.
“This was quite a revelation, seeing this magnificent fish. We know that it is quite abundant in our eastern seaboard, usually schooling with highly migratory tuna species but rarely seen,” Albaladejo said in a phone interview on Wednesday.
He said the fishermen sold the fish at the local market at PHP200 per kg.
The giant fish was washed up to the shallow part of the sea and caught shortly after a magnitude 6.6 tectonic quake struck Cataingan town in Masbate province and shook several areas in the Visayas at about 8:03 a.m. on Tuesday. (PNA)
