Villager catches giant deep-sea fish

ZAMBOANGA CITY – A rare giant deep-sea sunfish, caught by a resident of a coastal fishing village east of this city, died at dawn yesterday.

The sunfish is locally known as "mulamula" and belongs to the order of bony fishes called Tetraodontiformes. It has a flat, oval body that is taller than it is long due to its large and high dorsal and anal fins.

This particular specimen, 2.3 meters long and 1.3 meters wide, was caught by Rizalino Rebollos at about 1 p.m. Saturday after it beached off Barangay Bolong. It was brought to the Sangali Fishing Port for examination, where it drew a huge crowd.

It took about 10 to 15 people to flip the one-ton sunfish on its side, and a forklift to transport it.

"The fish appeared to be weak when I saw it beaching off the coast," said Rebollos, who immediately informed the city’s agriculture office personnel.

The giant grey-brown sunfish, however, died Sunday for still unknown reasons.

City agriculturist Boy Palacat said it was the first time a sunfish has beached at the Zamboanga peninsula. He said this specimen could have been washed ashore by strong currents since it was already weak.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of this sunfish’s death, he said.

"It is believed that the fish was very old and died because it was already weak," Palacat said.

After the autopsy, the sunfish will be preserved for public display, perhaps in a museum, he added.