Tuticorin: A group of five fishermen from Threspuram here has brought ashore a rare fish on 10/01/2006

Raju, Edison, Sahayam, Antony and Raja, who ventured into the sea in a mechanised boat on Sunday, caught the fish. It got trapped in the net while they were 40 nautical miles off Threspuram on Monday.

The fish was about six feet long and weighed about 10 kg. Immediately on landing at the Old Harbour here on Tuesday, they handed over the fish to the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) functioning under the Central Government, since they had not come across such a species before.

According to CMFRI sources, fishermen have been asked to hand over rare species of fish they come across during fishing to their laboratory for `species identification.' Taxonomical studies will be carried out on the fish to identify the species.

The CMFRI will also try to establish links with other research bodies to find out whether the species was already identified. "If it is found to be a new species, it would be named suitably," said sources.