At the beginning of the 21st Century monsters still roam the remote, and sometimes not so remote, corners of our planet. It is our job to search for them. The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is - we believe - the largest professional, scientific and full-time organisation in the world dedicated to cryptozoology - the study of unknown animals. Since 1992 the CFZ has carried out an unparalleled programme of research and investigation all over the world. Since 2009 we have been running the increasingly popular CFZ Blog Network, and although there has been an American branch of the CFZ for over ten years now, it is only now that it has a dedicated blog.

Sunday 31 January 2016

ON THIS DAY IN WEIRD


On This Day in Weird, January 31...

1930: The research ship Dana captures an apparent leptocephalus (eel larva, literally "slim head") off Africa's Cape of Good Hope. Its size astounds examiners, measuring 6 feet 1.5 inches long. The average leptocephalus for European eels measures three inches and metamorphoses into an adult roughly one meter long, suggesting to some that the adult form of what they dub Leptocephalus giganteus might exceed 400 feet in length. Others dismiss the notion, observing that leptocephali of various species grow at different rates. The preserved specimen presently resides at Copenhagen University's Zoological Museum. No other members of its species have been found to date.


The Dana Leptocephalus

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