‘Alien goldfish’ may have been unique mollusc, say scientists

Researchers believe Typhloesus wellsi used radula, found in molluscs today, to capture prey by projecting it beyond the body 330m years ago. Photograph: Supplied

The mystery of a bizarre creature dubbed the “alien goldfish”, which has baffled fossil experts for decades, may have been solved, according to scientists who say the animal appears to have been some sort of mollusc.

Typhloesus wellsi lived about 330m years ago and was discovered in the Bear Gulch Limestone fossil site in Montana in the late 1960s, with the remains of other species subsequently identified.