Big search for Loch Ness Monster

[BlueKrono]

But the study didn't find any catfish DNA in Loch Ness.

Interesting, the more I read, the more the Victorian catfish sound anecdotal. If the DNA came back negative for them I suppose that rules out that possibility. Do you know if the results showed any sturgeon in the Loch?

No:

""We can't find any evidence of sturgeon either" Professor Gemmell says."
From here: https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/news/otago717609.html

I was curious to find out more about this interesting DNA study but couldn't find any published paper, so I contacted Professor Gemmell to ask if the study has been published anywhere. He replied to say that the study is not published yet but he is working on a paper.

Well that rules out the bigguns', unless there's a very vagrant arapaima in there. I know it's getting a little far away from dinosaurs, but if you obtain a readable copy of the paper I'd be very interested in reading it if you wouldn't mind posting it on the forum.

[Fossilized-Rubber]

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/loch-ness-monster-spotted-again-in-tourists-photo-of-big-fish/CRPBM3UEHZXIPLKBPHTDE744VE/

This article seems to contain a fraction of the study (specifically in the video). The video says 300 samples were taken of the loch water, but I don't know if that's a good enough sample size, especially for bottom-dwelling fish (I'm not a scientist). There's also evidence of a lot of eel DNA so they don't rule out a possibility of giant eels.

There's also a juicy picture taken by a tourist which has potential to be photoshop. I'm posting it here for future generations to enjoy in case the news page gets taken down. It's probably a seal - according to the article, seals enter via the sea.




I look forward to seeing this paper!

[DinoToyForum]

Here's the image source of the creature blatantly photoshopped into that image, note the identical patterning:

[Halichoeres]

I'm trained as a fish biologist, so I'm sort of dimly familiar with eDNA techniques, although I have never used them myself. I also haven't read any of this particular study, so this is very much a drive-by comment. Loch Ness is deep enough to be stratified for part of the year, so depending on how they did their sampling, it's plausible that they could fail to detect sturgeon even if they're present, if the sturgeon keep close to the bottom AND the bottom were poorly sampled (though equally plausible that there simply aren't any sturgeon). It would be harder to fail to detect an animal that had to surface to breathe, like a tetrapod.

[Gwangi]

Wels catfish aren't in Loch Ness, or even in Scotland, and there are no reports of sturgeon being in Loch Ness. I suppose the latter is possible as Atlantic sturgeon have been found around Scotland but it appears that the fish fauna in Loch Ness is pretty mundane and what you would expect it to be. Pike, eel, various salmonids and such.

I don't think we need any biological explanation for the Loch Ness monster. It's just waves, logs, native wildlife, and a dose human imagination stoked by 90 years of sensational headlines, books, movies, and marketing. The evidence for anything unusual in Loch Ness is basically non-existent and no more intriguing than the evidence for an unknown animal in any other random body of water.   

[Fossilized-Rubber]

Here's the image source of the creature blatantly photoshopped into that image, note the identical patterning:

This two-image breakdown and that you were able to find it fills me with immense pleasure.

Have you considered that it could be the same catfish on vacation? (jk)

[DinoToyForum]

Here's the image source of the creature blatantly photoshopped into that image, note the identical patterning:

This two-image breakdown and that you were able to find it fills me with immense pleasure.

Have you considered that it could be the same catfish on vacation? (jk)

Well, I can't take credit. I started looking for visual matches and then came across someone who had already done the legwork for me!

Now, if it was a catfish from Scotland vacationing in Italy, that would be understandable. But a catfish from Italy vacationing in Scotland? I doubt it!