Comments:  Though the preceding images are real and all of the strange-looking creatures depicted in them exist, those creatures were not, contrary to what the accompanying text claims, found washed up on the beaches of Phuket, Thailand after the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004. Most if not all of the photographs were taken in 2003 to document specimens collected during the joint Australian-New Zealand NORFANZ research voyage in the Tasman Sea. They can be found displayed on the Australian National Oceans Office Website under the title Creature Feature.

According to news sources, many fish were indeed left stranded on dry land and died when the tsunami waves withdrew, but I have find no reports of exotic, deep-sea varieties among them. What's more, it seems unlikely that all of the same species depicted in these Tasman Sea photographs would also be found in the Indian Ocean.

Sources and further reading:

NORFANZ Voyage
Official Website of the 2003 NORFANZ research voyage in the Tasman Sea

Creature Feature
Part of the NORFANZ site and source of the emailed images

Deep Sea Fish in Hoax Tsunami Email
Practical Fishkeeping

Last updated: 01/20/05