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Underwater ‘dragons’ caught in Siberian river

By 0 and 0 and 0
29 January 2018

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Pikes with horns were caught in Omsk region of Siberia. Picture: SuperOmsk


Fisherman Alexey, 25, pulled two fish from the river last autumn, but his bizarre catch is only disclosed now. 

He was puzzled as one pike weighing 12 kilograms had two horns, and the second  - 7 kilograms - had four horns. Both fish were immediately nicknamed dragons by fellow anglers. 

Alexey ate the fish, despite warning of them being potentially poisonous, with no ill-effect. 

Alexey kept and dried the heads, preserving them in his garage. 

‘I was impressed with the catch', said Alexey. 'One of the pikes was 14 kilograms, another one was 7 kilograms.

'They had horns bent back towards their tail; the smaller fish had four horns.'

Pike with horns caught in Siberia


Pike with horns caught in Siberia


Fisherman Alexey, 25, and dried heads of his catch. Pictures: SuperOmsk


Locals sought to explain how the pike had come to grow horns, asking whether pollution was the cause.  

For years there have been concerns over the impact of falling rocket parts from launches at Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Journalists have blamed debris containing rocket fuel for illnesses among children in this area. 

Closer to home, the Tarsky Mining and Processing Combine is fairly near the spot, where the fish were taken from the river. 

Pike with horns caught in Siberia


Pike with horns caught in Siberia
Tarsky Mining and Processing Combine, and Tarsky district of Omsk region marked on the world map


Folklore tales among the indigenous peoples of western and northern Siberia include accounts of pike as underwater dragons. 

In Yamal, to the north, the legendary Pyrie is a flesh-eating pike with horns on its head. 

The Khanty people who live further south, say the river spirit Sart-Lung turns into a huge pike. 

Local emergencies official in the region where the horned pike were caught, Mikhail Kolesov, said: ’It is true that from time to time parts of rocket-carriers launched from Baikonur fall into marshes here and poison the territory with rocket fuel.’

Arkady Balushkin, chief of the Ichthyology laboratory of the Russian Academy of Sciences Zoological Institute, was sceptical about pollution as the cause. 

The zirconium plant has been in any case closed for several years. 

'Any change happening under influence of chemical substances or radiation does not lead to new formations like this,’ he said.

‘A pike would still remain a pike, it might develop a tumor or edema, and these are the typical illnesses for these species. 

‘But it is not supposed to have any horns.

'To confirm that it was a pike with horns, and not another fish, I would need to see it for myself.’

Pike with horns caught in Siberia

Pike with horns caught in Siberia


http://www.pikeanglersclub.co.uk/articles/horns.html
Anglers with pikes on shores of river Irtysh in Omsk region


In people, a rare condition caused cutaneous horns is seen as being caused by radiation; can fish also suffer from this?

An article called Pike with Horns, by Dr E J Crossman, suggests the phenomenon in this type of fish, while, exceptionally rare, is not unknown. 

He wrote in 1987: ‘In moments of excitement I think many Pike anglers have compared the personality of the Pike to that of one of the more infamous, mythical or real, horned beasts. 

‘The same anglers would not, however, expect to actually find horns on their quarry once it was landed. 

'Nevertheless in six isolated cases to date that is exactly what has happened. 

‘All six fish had very obvious structures referred to as ‘horns, spines or prongs’.’

He cited a number of cases in North America, according to a publication by the Pike Anglers’ Club of Great Britain.

Comments (2)

This sentence is very interest too:“长股之国在雄常北,披发。一曰长脚。”
it said that there were people with long thighs or feet. Those mightn't Sasquatch, and this might be an early record of skiing in Siberia. The long foot might imply the snowboard.
姚剑申, 巨鹿/中国
30/01/2018 07:37
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Oh,the pike‘s horn indeed like pike——spear(microlithic culture‘s spear head may be like it),that may be the cause the name drived from?
To say that creature like dragon, I'd like to tell you some historical literature in Chinese ancient book 《山海经》(mountain and sea geography),in its section 《海外西经》(Overseas Western) it record these in the northwest:
  “龙鱼陵居在其北,状如狸。一曰【鱼段】。即有神圣乘此以行九野。一曰鳖鱼在夭野北,其为鱼也如鲤。
  白民之国在龙鱼北,白身披发。有乘黄,其状如狐,其背上有角,乘之寿二千岁。
  肃慎之国在白民北。有树名曰雄常,先入伐帝,于此取之。
  长股之国在雄常北,披发。一曰长脚。
  西方蓐收,左耳有蛇,乘两龙。”
It‘s an old book, I don't want to translate it (It'll be difficult for modern people to realize the places and creatures), “龙鱼” means “dragon fish”,which like cat or carp, for《山海经》,this creature may be living in west Siberia or Europe. “白民” means “white people”,“蓐收” is a deity in the west, which pronounced very close to “Russ”, O(∩_∩)O~
姚剑申, 巨鹿/中国
29/01/2018 16:55
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