Cleary's Fish is a saltwater fish cryptid reported from the Pacific Ocean in southwestern Japan.
Although the sighting was in Japan, reports of this creature are largely unknown in Japan because it was reported in English by an English-speaking witness.
Description[]
It is 25 feet long (7 meters), has an elongated dorsal fin, eel-like body shape, and two pairs of distinct 4 foot (1.2 meter) webbed limbs. Its head resembles that of a seahorse, with barracuda-like tusks and bull-like eyes.
No scales were reported to be visible, so it appears that scales were either absent or very small.
Sightings[]
Around 1992, British diver Mike Cleary was in a diving bell with a companion to survey the seafloor of an oil rig in the Pacific Ocean southeast of Japan. When they reached a depth of 1,700 feet (518 meters), an unknown creature approached the diving bell and began circling around it. This was the mysterious giant fish with the aforementioned characteristics.
Cleary reported this experience to Malcolm Smith in January 2002.
Explanations[]
There is currently no known marine organism that meets all of the reported characteristics. Based on its limb-like structure, some believe that Cleary's fish may be a lobe-finned fish. This group currently includes lungfish and coelacanths.
Others, focusing solely on its body shape and size, suggest that it may be a misidentification of a Pacific sleeper shark or a giant oarfish.
Still others focused on the 10 year interval between the sighting and Cleary reporting it. Similar cryptid reports with a time gap between the sighting and the report include the case of the U-28 creature, which has been shown to be a hoax.
Furthermore, there are no applicable oil drilling rigs in southeastern Japan or the nearby Pacific Ocean. Unless the location is incorrectly reported, the theory that it is a hoax is strong.