By Lauren Liebhaber, Miami Herald

In 1986 off the coast of Somalia, a fishing vessel hauled in a strange-looking creature. For nearly 40 years it sat in a museum collection unidentified — until now.

Researchers have determined it to be a new species of slender barracudina named Stemonosudis adenensis, and to date, it is the only one that’s ever been caught, according to a study published June 12 in the journal ZooKeys.

With the exception of a single row of scales, it’s body is scaleless, researchers said. Its coloration when alive is unknown, but is assumed by researchers to be uniformly brown.

The specimen was a female with eggs, measuring just over 7 inches long, according to the study. “Despite examining many specimens in collections from around the world and consulting the results of recent surveys in the Western Indian Ocean we found no other specimens exhibiting the same characteristics as S. adenensis,” researchers said.

Current “hostilities in the Gulf of Aden,” will likely hinder attempts to locate more of the species where it was initially discovered, researchers said.

The research team included Hsuan-Ching Ho and Tsung-Yu Yang.

Source: Miami Herald