Gavin Hanke, curator of Vertebrate Zoology, shows off a spotted porcupine puffer fsh in his lab in the Fannin Tower at the Royal B.C. Museum. Photo by Adrian Lam/Times Colonist
Gavin Hanke reaches a gloved hand into the formaldehyde tank at the Royal British Columbia Museum very, very carefully.
What emerges is a B.C. first 鈥� a poisonous spotted porcupine fish discovered on a beach near Jordan River on the west coast of 麻豆传媒映画Island on Oct. 5.
The spotted porcupine 鈥� a type of pufferfish 鈥� is almost 25 centimetres long. It鈥檚 boxy with spines that will run through your finger like butter, said Hanke, curator of vertebrate zoology at the RBCM.
Its face is flat, with two round, vacant eyes. It has a beak like a parrot formed from fused teeth. Little dark spots dot its belly and its fins.
鈥淭his is a fish that when it鈥檚 frightened or threatened will blow up into a nice little sphere covered in spines,鈥� Hanke said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so cool to get stuff like this. It鈥檚 just one of a number of new records this year.鈥�
Until now, the spotted porcupine has never been found north of San Diego. Its habitat is warm waters around the globe. In the western Pacific, it ranges from Japan to the Kuril Islands.
It鈥檚 possible this spotted porcupine came north on its own in the warm surface waters of the 鈥渂lob,鈥� the warm-water phenomenon off the west coast, said Hanke.
He believes its appearance is an effect of warming surface waters, which allow southern species to stray beyond their typical range.
Gavin Hanke, curator of Vertebrate Zoology, shows off a spotted porcupine puffer fish in his lab in the Fannin Tower at the Royal B.C. Museum. Photo by Adrian Lam/Times Colonist
But it could also be a signal of climate change. 鈥淚f this one came up from California, it鈥檚 come a long way against the currents, but it is possible,鈥� said Hanke. 鈥淪potted porcupines are not strong swimmers. They basically move by sculling their dorsal and anal fins. Even a little one can chug along. But the thing is, this fish doesn鈥檛 go deep enough to go into the deep counter current, so it would be going against the California Current all the way, which is so amazing.鈥�
The California Current moves southward off the Pacific coast from southern B.C. to southern Baja California.
Danny Kent, curator at Ocean Wise at the 麻豆传媒映画Aquarium, is also interested in the discovery of the spotted porcupine. He sent photographs of the fish to colleagues in California, Japan and Vancouver.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely not something we typically see here at all,鈥� said Kent. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 say for sure it came up because of climate change or the blob, but it鈥檚 a pretty good guess it鈥檚 from that. There are lots of other things that start showing up when we have warm water masses up here off the coast and during El Nino years.鈥�
Although some of their colleagues speculated the specimen was released from the pet trade, both Kent and Hanke think that鈥檚 unlikely.
On Friday, American scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration took a look at the spotted porcupine with Hanke.
鈥淲e just shook our heads and wondered how did that get here. It鈥檚 hard to say,鈥� said Hanke.
The spotted porcupine will become part of the museum鈥檚 鈥渨et鈥� collection 鈥� stored in fluids 鈥� which includes a trigger fish and a louvar.
The trigger fish was found alive and healthy off the west coast of 麻豆传媒映画Island in the fall of 2014. It normally ranges only as far north as southern California. The louvar, another South Pacific fish, was found by beachcombers in northern Haida Gwaii in 2014.
Jordan River resident Donovan Ray discovered the spotted porcupine while he was down at the beach building sandcastles with his daughter.
鈥淚 saw the fish just sitting in the kelp. It was still in good condition. I thought: 鈥楥ool. It looks like a pufferfish.鈥� Then I thought: 鈥楬mm. We don鈥檛 usually get those things here.鈥� 鈥�
Ray, 49, was impressed by how intact and fresh the specimen was. And fortunately, because he had travelled around the South Pacific, he immediately knew it was poisonous.
Most pufferfish species are toxic and some are among the most poisonous vertebrates in the world. In certain species, the internal organs and sometimes their skin contain a poison called tetrodotoxin. The poison is highly toxic to most animals.
鈥淚鈥檇 eaten one with a family in western Samoa and they put on a big spread and they had all kinds of exotic things. They knew how to eat it. They pulled spines off the body and sucked the juice out. They were super-careful with it and passed me little bits to eat.鈥� After taking some photographs, Ray buried the fish under rocks to protect it from scavengers and dogs.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want an eagle or a dog or a child to come in contact with it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 knew for sure if a predator started chewing it, it wouldn鈥檛 be good.鈥�
Ray sent photos to the Times Colonist that were forwarded to Ocean Wise and other scientists, including Hanke.
Hanke asked Ray to dig the fish up and bring it in. Both are thrilled with the discovery.
The RBCM collection provides a baseline for what was here in the past and what鈥檚 here now to allow scientists to detect changes, said Hanke. The specimens are available to scientists around the world.
Since 1999, 47 new species have been found in B.C. waters.
鈥淲hat we鈥檝e found in deep water are cold-water adapted fish that probably have always been here, so that鈥檚 not a big deal. But we鈥檙e trying to detect change,鈥� Hanke said.
