Let's dive in. The plot: An aloof fringer named Henry Limpet is preoccupied -obsessed- with fish and makes a living as a bookkeeper. He is rejected by the navy even as his friend is accepted for service. Depressed, he falls off a pier near Coney Island and is inexplicably transformed into a Tilefish.
There are allusions to Jonah and other tales. Jonah rejects his calling and while trying to escape, a fish swallows him. In the story of Henry Limpet, Limpet is himself rejected, and instead of being swallowed by a fish as he sinks to the depths, becomes transformed into a fish. This is Kafkaesque. There is a significant inversion to this too, however. Gregor Samsa's transformation isolates him and closes him off from human society. As the metamorphosis progresses, he is increasingly isolated from his family, becomes unable to provide financially for them and invokes their ire.
Henry Limpet on the other hand, is just the opposite. As human, Limpet has already drawn himself away from society. He frustrates his wife with his reticent behavior and has trouble meeting financial needs. There is even an illusion to conjugal shortcomings. His ultimate rejection is by the Navy, barring him from participating in the world of man and its affairs of war.
"There you are Mr. Limpet... I suppose we'll be losing you to the Navy soon, then?"
"I'm afraid not."
"Really?"
"No, my eyesight. And a few other things. I'm classified -F."
"Everybody can't be a hero, Mr. Limpet. We need men like you at home too."
"Why?"
"To give to the blood bank, of course."
"They don't want my blood."
Like Gregor, everything changes with his transformation, but the other direction. As a fish, he is able to rejoin the society of mankind, no longer a burden thanks to a newfound special ability. He can create a large underwater noise which locates Nazi U-boats, making him a secret weapon for the U.S. Navy. Accepted into the Navy, he advances rank and is able to support his wife financially and enjoy the camaraderie of his old friend, George Stickel.
Once the war ends, he begins to realize his role in society was dependent on his ability to add value to society. When they lack a purpose for him, he grows purposeless himself. Interestingly, he falls in love with a female fish of the same species, named ladyfish, during his role in the war. He finds that their species is rare and needs a male to help ensure their proliferation. By the end, he rejects mankind- his friends, his wife, the navy- everything. He has rediscovered, primely, all the roles he couldn't fill as a man in the role of a fish.
There is another detail I neglected. The movie is actually a flashback. It occurs because some Naval officers are reopening up the file of Mr. Limpet. There have been curious reports of super-intelligent porpoises and they suspect Mr. Limpet is teaching the porpoises, training them this way. There is no indication whether or not the porpoises are hostile, however. That matter is left cleverly ambiguous. We are left to wonder about Henry Limpet's motivations. Has he fashioned himself as a Poseidon of sorts? An existential hero deified by his ability to create intelligence in sea creatures and propagate his species as some sort of uber-fish-kind? We do not know.
Once the movie flashes back to the present, we see an army boat lowering a microphone into the water, vainly entreating Mr. Limpet. The only response is an aggressive sound, "THRUM." Then credits begin to roll with the song, "Be Careful How You Wish."
Very deep.
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