‘He bit me’ – Digby lobster fisherman catches strange fish

ralph-cummings-bit-by-triggerfishGlen Oliver, first mate on the/Randi & Brianne , was hauling traps in the middle of the Annapolis Basin Oct. 22 when he saw something he’d never seen before. He hollered to captain Ralph Cummings to take a look. In the parlour of the trap, along with a couple lobster, was a fish Cummings had never seen before. “I’ve been fishing for 30 year and I’ve never seen one,” he said. “I took a picture and sent it to Johnny. I knew he could figure it out.” Cummings is used to fish in the traps – it’s not at all unusual to find codfish, sculpins or toadfish in the parlour. But this was different. Cummings had caught a grey triggerfish (Balistes capriscus) about a foot and half long with a deep body, tough leathery scales, eyes set back and high up on the body and a little beak-like mouth. Cummings learned the hard way that inside the little mouth are two rows of sharp teeth. “He bit me. I guess I had my hand too close to his mouth,” he said. Read the story here with two more images 11:41

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