A fisherman was shocked when he reeled in this alien-like monster from the deep.
Oscar Lundahl nearly jumped out of his fishing boat when he saw the bizarre-looking species with bulbous eyes.
The ratfish has a Latin name Chimaeras Monstrosa Linnaeus, which is derived from a Greek mythical monster that had the head of a lion and tail of a dragon.
The mysterious creatures are rarely caught as they live in deep water.
It is believed their huge eyes developed to help them see at such dark depths.
Oscar, 19, a fishing guide for Nordic Sea Angling, caught the little beast by mistake in 2,600ft of water off the island of Andoya in northern Norway.
He said: ‘We were looking for blue halibut which is a rare species about five miles off shore.
‘I had four hooks on one line and felt something quite big on the end of it.
‘It took me about 30 minutes to reel it in because it was 800 metres deep.
‘There were two halibut on two of the hooks and I was really happy about that and then I saw there was something else.
‘It was pretty amazing, I have never seen anything like it before.
‘It just looked weird, a bit dinosaur-like.
‘I didn’t know what it was but my colleague did.’
The fish, which are harmless to humans as they prefer crabs and sea snails, have been around for 300 million years.
Due to the sudden change in pressure, the ratfish did not survive being hauled up from the water.
Oscar took it home and pan-fried fillets of it in butter.
He said: ‘Despite its ugly appearance it was really tasty.
‘It is a bit like cod but tastier.’
