Confirmed as Julnoraemijong... "Camouflage Color for Protection"
Fisherman Who Caught the Fish: "Taste is Similar to Trout"
A fisherman in Alaska, USA, has attracted attention by catching a fish with bright blue flesh.
On the 21st (local time), local media including Fox News reported on the fish caught by fisherman Joe Shmelek, who works in Homer, Alaska.
Shmelek posted a photo of the fish he caught last month on his social network (SNS). The fish had distinct orange spots on the outside, but upon closer inspection, its mouth and gills were blue, and when the body was cut open, the flesh inside was also blue.
According to the American Wildlife Records and Research Group, this fish is known to be a species of rock greenling.
The rock greenling, a marine fish belonging to the family Hexagrammidae, is commonly found along the northern Pacific coast from the waters off California to the Bering Sea in Alaska. It is also distributed in Korea, Japan, and other regions. The rock greenling, which inhabits rocky reefs, has various patterns in orange, brown, red, and green as camouflage for protection.
The direct cause of this coloration is biliverdin, a bile pigment produced in the gallbladder. However, local environmental authorities have not been able to determine the exact reason why the rock greenling caught by Shmelek has blue flesh.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game stated, "We were unable to check the mercury content of this rock greenling, so we cannot advise whether it is safe for human consumption."
Meanwhile, Shmelek also posted a video of cooking the rock greenling. He said, "When cooked in an oiled frying pan, the blue flesh turned white like ordinary fish," and added, "The taste is similar to trout."
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