Oar You Ready For This
Heave Ho! We’re off to explore the watery depths and dive into a world of fabled sea monsters. This week, we’re looking at the animal behind the sea serpent legends and harbingers of doom: the oarfish! Let’s dive in...
What is it?
The elusive oarfish is a very long and skinny fish. When I say long, I mean really long—the longest recorded giant oarfish was 36 feet! That's an extreme case, as they typically average around 10 feet in length, which is still impressive. (There have been unconfirmed reports of oarfish reaching lengths of 36 feet and even 56 feet.) While I couldn’t find specific measurements for their width, they are known as "ribbon fish" for a reason. The maximum confirmed weight is 600 pounds. As one of the more mysterious creatures, we aren’t entirely sure how long they live, but AI seems pretty confident in saying they live "at least 30 years" (though it never explained how it came to that conclusion).
Where can I find an oarfish?
Oarfish are rarely seen, but they inhabit temperate and tropical parts of the ocean worldwide. They’re not often found close to the surface, except in special circumstances such as illness. These enigmatic creatures are typically found between 50 and 3,280 feet deep, but most sightings occur between 65 and 656 feet.
What do they eat?
To start, oarfish have no teeth, which eliminates many potential food sources. These fascinating fish are filter feeders, using their mouths to create a vacuum and suck in passing plankton, small fish, squid, and perhaps a crustacean or two. In short, they eat small seafood.
How do we get baby oarfish?
When the waters warm up, so do the oarfish! Between June and December, they engage in a process called broadcast spawning, where the female releases eggs and the male fertilizes them. Once fertilized, the eggs float along the surface until they hatch, about three weeks later. The young oarfish look just like miniature versions of the adults.
What are oarfish superpowers?
The stories surrounding oarfish are pretty cool. One of their nicknames is the "King of Herrings," which comes from the distinctive crown-like shape of their dorsal fin. This royal appearance led people to believe they ruled over schools of herring (though it’s unclear how they specifically landed on herring). In Japanese folklore, oarfish are considered messengers of the sea god and are thought to be harbingers of earthquakes and tsunamis. This is fascinating because oarfish have historically been spotted around the time of such chaotic events. While there’s no scientific evidence proving a correlation, it’s certainly intriguing.
How many are there?
There are three known species of oarfish: Giant oarfish, Russell’s oarfish, and the Streamerfish. As with most mysterious and elusive creatures, we don’t know how many oarfish there actually are in the world.
Image Credit: Florida Museum
Science Time!!!
Oarfish - Regalecidae
Giant oarfish - Regalecus glesne
Russell’s oarfish - Regalecus russelii
Streamerfish - Agrostichthys parkeri
The IUCN Red List has the oarfish listed as Least Concern. Scientists aren’t sure about their population numbers, but they do know that people do not eat oarfish because they have an “icky and gelatinous” taste/texture. So they should be ok. Yay for being unpalatable to humans!
News: With the holiday season upon us I am taking a break till January. Though I might throw a Christmas post out. As always, thanks for learning about this awesome species, and you can check out my instagram stories for more non-charismatic species!
Resources:
Bester, C. (2024). Oarfish, Regalecus glesne. Florida Museum. https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/regalecus-glesne/#:~:text=The%20maximum%20reported%20length%20of,Guinness%20Book%20of%20World%20Records.
Collette, B.B. 2015. Regalecus glesne. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T190378A76701576
MarineBio. (n.d.). Oarfishes. Species. https://www.marinebio.org/species/oarfishes/regalecus-glesne/
