Rare fish caught

Kelly Tarlton's curator Andrew Christie. Photo / Paul Estcourt.

A Tauranga fishing vessel has caught one of the world's rarest fish in western Bay waters, to the excitement of marine experts.

Skipper Brett McGrath and his crew caught the pancake batfish, or Halieutichthys aculeatus, alive off Mayor Island. Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World curator Andrew Christie described the discovery as "truly remarkable".