By Tim Binnall
A diver exploring the waters off the coast of Honduras captured footage of an elusive fish which prowls the ocean floor by walking on its fins. The wondrous encounter reportedly occurred as marine life expert Mickey Charteris was swimming in a channel near the Honduran island of Roatan. Much to his profound surprise, the seasoned chronicler of sea creatures in the region stumbled upon a shortnose batfish that he described as "hands down the strangest fish in the Caribbean."
As can be seen in the video captured by Charteris, the odd creature possesses the ability to walk along the ground using its fins, which is how it searches for prey. One of just a few fish species to perform such a remarkable feat, the shortnose batfish is rarely seen by divers to the point that he mused that one might catch sight of the animal "once every few years if you dive every day" and that "you have to go out of your way to dive in silty channels and shallow sandy flats where there is usually less visibility."