The oarfish is undoubtedly one of the strangest creatures in the sea. As the world’s longest bony fish, the giant oarfish regularly grows to around 10 feet (3 m), though the longest specimens have been measured as reaching an incredible 26 feet (8 m).
They spend much of their time in deep water and can descend to the mesopelagic zone, at a depth of 3,300 feet (1,000 m). These ribbon-shaped creatures have large eyes to help them see in the depths, a pinkish-red dorsal fin that extends down their back, a tall, a crown-like appendage of fin rays on their head, and silvery bodies that help them camouflage by reflecting light. Adding to their general weirdness, oarfish swim vertically, moving up and down and side to side.
Due to their preferred deep-sea habitat, they usually evade fishermen’s nets, and it is rare for people to encounter oarfish in shallow waters. Those that come close to the surface are often sick or have somehow become disoriented. Perhaps because of their strangeness and unfamiliarity, these creatures may be the basis of historical sightings of sea serpents. They feature in Japanese folklore as harbingers of natural disasters, giving rise to the popular nickname “doomsday fish.”
This nickname was highly publicized in 2011 when it came to light that an unusually high number of oarfish had washed ashore on Japanese beaches before the devastating Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that claimed more than 20,000 lives. In a legend stretching back to the 17th century, these supposed messengers of the sea god Ryūjin are seen near shore to alert people about an impending earthquake.
The dark legend of the oarfish surfaced again this month when kayakers and snorkelers discovered a dead short-crested oarfish on August 10 near La Jolla Cove in California. It was just the 20th oarfish found on California beaches since 1901. Two days after the oarfish washed ashore, Los Angeles experienced a magnitude 4.4 earthquake. The adult male fish, which measured 12.25 feet (3.7 m) in length, has already been examined by scientists, though the cause of death remains unclear. After extensive study (including mapping an oarfish genome for the first time), its body will ultimately be added to the Marine Vertebrate Collection at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.
Though it is highly unlikely that there is any correlation between this latest oarfish sighting and the earthquake in Los Angeles (rising water currents are likely responsible for bringing sick and dead fish to the surface), these events have undoubtedly further cemented the bizarre marine creature’s ominous reputation.
Oarfish in fact and fiction:
- The Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America published a study in 2019 that concluded that the link between oarfish and natural disasters is merely a superstition.
- The oarfish is also nicknamed the “king of herrings,” “ribbonfish,” and “streamer fish.” The name oarfish probably derives either from its long shape, resembling an oar, or its long pelvic fins.
- Oarfish are filter feeders, with a diet primarily consisting of plankton and small crustaceans, such as krill.
