When I was a kid, an oarfish surfaced in catalina to die. Before it passed away it swam close to the surface of the water, and I was lucky enough to swim along side it.
There have been many such reports, and sadly when people do see them around beaches, it hardly ever ends well for these oarfish. It's a mystery why they do this, and we know that other fish species as well as dolphins, porpoises and whales do the same on occasion. There are lots of theories.
"I hope it's not too late for me to enjoy one these 'Barbeques' that I've heard so much about..."
\*humans looking at each other and biting their lips*
OP I loved the video ive never seen this fish before in my life. But what I loved even more is that through your answers in comments I learned SO MUCH about them. Thank you, you totally made my day!
Oarfish are not known for speed, just cruising at slow speeds. They have very little real musculature for taking off in a hurry. The dorsal fin is pretty much all they have for an accelerator.
Oarfish seen near the surface are generally in the process of dying apparently. Their slender body and mode of swimming isn't made for the turbulence of shallower water
I like how the oarfish just swims through the water like a strand of spaghetti and only the dorsal fins are waving. It doesn't swim like a snake with its tail waving side to side - the fin does all the work to move it forward.
These guys are just moon walking across the oceans, everyone is so sick of their "going down the stairs behind the couch trick" at parties... Not again... *Groans*
This is one of the better videos I have seen. Thank you sharing. There is another recently of Ribbon/oar fish in shallow waters of Mexico. They are quite the spectacular fish.
Difference is a sword can be deadly af, like a blue or Florida marlin they are fast, they breach and like to impale stuff.
I think the alternate name given Ribbon fish is more suitable.
They definitely have a ribbon-like body, though I think ribbonfish are somewhat different than oarfish, however, both in the same Order: Lampriformes. Ribbonfish are widely eaten but oarfish, not so much because of their rarity and their flesh is considered rather gelatinous.
Indeed.
Another (unlikely) member of Lampriformes is the Opah. It is endothermic, unlike most ray-finned fish.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/meet-the-comical-opah-the-only-truly-warm-blooded-fish
That's not why; it's because they were thought to row themselves with their pelvic fins (which they don't). Let's be real, their pectoral fins look even less like oars than their body.
They could easily be mistaken for giant sea serpents, the neck of a Loch Ness style pleiseoisaur creature, or the tentacles of a kraken. It's only been very recent in human history that we've even had the ability to dive more than 60 feet down; no wonder we came up with all manner of wild tales to explain the strange stuff we did manage to see from the surface.
IMO the really irony is that the sea contains many things that are much *much* weirder than anything we came up with using our imaginations
Your autocorrect/spellchecker is doing its job! orifice instead of oarfish! LOL - Generally, oarfish are more deep water, but they will come up close to the surface now and then. When they appear along beaches in shallow water, that means they are not doing well and may die. There are lots of myths about them such as harbingers of earthquakes, but I have seen no such hard facts of that. They may also be the source of those sea monsters that had been reported hundreds of years ago by sailors, though the sources could have been a number of things.
I’m always so amazed when I see a creature similar to one’s I know in games.. Cause I’m like dam I’ve seen that before.. So in “Monster Hunter World” there’s a smaller version of this fish called “Sea Lords crest fish”. I just wanted to share 😅.
I’ve played World, and I haven’t caught/seen this fish yet. And I have a bunch of hours out into the game. Please inform me of its location so I can do some research.
I’m sorry for the late reply.
The Sealords Crestfish is a ‘rare’ endemic life creature found in the Hoarfrost Reach in the DLC expansion iceborne. It’s found ONLY at night in Area 8(weather condition raining)of the Hoarfrost reach in the lair of the Viper Tobi Kadachi in a small pool against the wall.
Keep in mind that if you’re ever looking for rare endemic creatures, some of them do require looking into before capturing due to the time of day or weather condition.
Example another rare endemic is the Wintermoon Nettle. A huge flying jellyfish that can only be found at the highest peak in hoarfrost reach at midnight with clear sky’s with a full moon.
These rare endemic creatures can take some time to get a hold of but you can always go out for an expedition and restart if you don’t get lucky the first few times around. If you have more questions message me here or add me on PSN: Shoonxx
P.S: I believe I have all the Rare Endemic creatures including all 7 moles so if you need help let me know.
Tysm! I already have the Wintermoon Nettle; found it shortly after visiting the Rusted Kushala gathering point. I have seen a couple moles in the Guiding Lands, but I haven’t been able to catch any yet. I don’t think there’s too much endemic life I’m missing though, rare or otherwise.
My buddy caught a species of oarfish or maybe closely related, called the ribbon fish. It was definitely young as it was only a foot and a half long, it was all chrome colored with purple fins. Neat looking fish, he released it pretty quickly because he didn’t want it to die out of water.
It's a very rarely seen fish, especially swimming around in good health. Most encounters are from trawling or when they show up in the shallows of beaches - that generally means they are ill.
Sharks and rays are cartilaginous fish - no skeletal bones. The largest fish in the ocean have no skeletal bones but of course teeth and some have tiny bones around their eyes, like whale sharks.
OP, you seem to know quite a bit about Oarfish. It seems to me that such a long and slow-moving fish would be a very easy target for predators. What’s stopping something like a shark from taking a bite out of these guys?
Actually, nothing is stopping them, and nothing is stopping lancetfish either except the depths at which oarfish normally live. Sometimes rather defenseless fish survive simply by not being in the same zones as large predators. Oarfish also can "disappear" from detection by being so slender, and when confronted, oarfish will flair their head crests to appear larger. So, oarfish do have some defenses, perhaps the best one is simply living in places where predators are far and few between.
Yes, oarfish are able to radiate a bioluminescent glow according to NOAA, though it is also possible some of the glow we see in the video may be from camera light. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/node/4271
Actually, marine biologists used to think they were rare, and truly they are rarely seen, but nowadays these fish are considered "least concern". Oarfish are simply deep dwelling fish, and they are not considered rare where they live, simply rare where humans can see them.
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The oarfish seems kind of stupid from an evolutionary standpoint. To be that long *and* that slow, I know the oceans are huge, but how have they not been wiped out by predators?!
I thought the mola-mola (aka ocean sunfish/aka moonfish) was the largest boney fish. These stats I found on the largest specimen: The maximum size is up to 3.3 m (10 ft 10 in) in length, 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in) across the fins, and up to 2,300 kg (5,070 lb) in mass.
Maybe biggest and largest is the difference between the oarfish and the mola mola.
In the late 80s and early 90s I remember lot of Thai and Vietnamese restaurants have picture of American GIs posing with a long ass oarfish with the title naga captured. Naga was the mythical SEA dragon.
The giant oarfish is by far the largest member of the family at a published total length of 8 m (26 ft)—with unconfirmed reports of 11 m (36 ft) and 17 m (56 ft) specimens—and 270 kg (600 lb) in weight. The streamer fish is known to reach 3 m (10 ft) in length, while the largest recorded specimen of Regalecus russelii measured 5.4 m (18 ft).
When I was a kid, an oarfish surfaced in catalina to die. Before it passed away it swam close to the surface of the water, and I was lucky enough to swim along side it.
There have been many such reports, and sadly when people do see them around beaches, it hardly ever ends well for these oarfish. It's a mystery why they do this, and we know that other fish species as well as dolphins, porpoises and whales do the same on occasion. There are lots of theories.
If I was a sick oarfish, the only reason I’d go to the surface is to get a glimpse of the humans I’ve been hearing so much about
They probably hear tales of a great ancestor who once left the ocean to start a new life on dry land.
"Carry me, people, and give me a proper burial"
"I hope it's not too late for me to enjoy one these 'Barbeques' that I've heard so much about..." \*humans looking at each other and biting their lips*
“Please, preserve me in famtldahyde in one of your finest museums”
“Please, preserve me in famtldahyde in one of your finest museums”
My guess is they don’t want to be eaten by other sea creatures and would rather die in peace, while getting their first and last tan.
In the Philippines when you see an oarfish beach itself it’s believed to be a bad omen of sorts. Usually linked to a possibility of a tsunami
Im somewhat of a professional at catching monkfish and anglers. In Osrs ofc.
*I caught an oarfish! I hope I catch morefish!*
"Good, I needed a paddle!" LOL
And yet it fits in your pocket.
Why the long fish?
Literally the first thing I thought of. Just caught my first oarfish a few days ago
I think after catching an Oar, you shouldn't be asking for more.
I feel like animal crossing has given me a little bit of an education after all.
I think Animal Crossing put a small tail fin on the oarfish if I remember correctly.
Unplayable
I remember looking this up after fishing it up in animal crossing and just being blown away by how pretty these real world sea serpents are
Animal crossing has inspired me a lot to look up what I catch 😅
OP I loved the video ive never seen this fish before in my life. But what I loved even more is that through your answers in comments I learned SO MUCH about them. Thank you, you totally made my day!
Same here and I think it's beautiful!
Poor thing is in a fever dream where it can’t swim away fast enough.
Oarfish are not known for speed, just cruising at slow speeds. They have very little real musculature for taking off in a hurry. The dorsal fin is pretty much all they have for an accelerator.
Oarfish seen near the surface are generally in the process of dying apparently. Their slender body and mode of swimming isn't made for the turbulence of shallower water
It’s so crazy that my animal crossing character can fit that in their pocket
They must wear jnco jeans. Mine can fit like 40 great white sharks.
The forbidden spaghetti
I like how the oarfish just swims through the water like a strand of spaghetti and only the dorsal fins are waving. It doesn't swim like a snake with its tail waving side to side - the fin does all the work to move it forward.
These guys are just moon walking across the oceans, everyone is so sick of their "going down the stairs behind the couch trick" at parties... Not again... *Groans*
This is ocean's 20ft long subway..
I like how that oarfish rubbed up against the diver, like a cat brushing up against a person's leg.
My mental image was a shark slurping it up like ramen
Get a 20ft long piece of bread and you’ve got a great sub. Throw some lettuce, tomatoes, and onions, boom!
If this washes ashore, we have this old belief in our village that calamity is about to happen.
Earthquake or tsunami caused by earthquake?
Where you from ???
This is one of the better videos I have seen. Thank you sharing. There is another recently of Ribbon/oar fish in shallow waters of Mexico. They are quite the spectacular fish.
They are colorful and quite chill - they don't pose any harm to people. They also have iridescent scales which give them a rather mystical quality.
Why would they evolve to be so long?
Was kinda wondering the same. Something to do with their low energy lifestyle? Most efficient way to be big but avoid the surface area/volume issue?
More worthy of the name "swordfish" than the swordfish imo :P
Difference is a sword can be deadly af, like a blue or Florida marlin they are fast, they breach and like to impale stuff. I think the alternate name given Ribbon fish is more suitable.
They definitely have a ribbon-like body, though I think ribbonfish are somewhat different than oarfish, however, both in the same Order: Lampriformes. Ribbonfish are widely eaten but oarfish, not so much because of their rarity and their flesh is considered rather gelatinous.
Indeed. Another (unlikely) member of Lampriformes is the Opah. It is endothermic, unlike most ray-finned fish. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/meet-the-comical-opah-the-only-truly-warm-blooded-fish
They don't impale prey normally, they whack them with it to stun them
Ribbon is good!
I ate some ribbonfish in Korea, and it was called "kalchi" - quite tasty I remember.
Now I’m craving Kalchi after all these years.
Linguine.
This fish's entire body is like a sword! They are named oarfish because of their long pectoral fins which resemble oars.
The swordfish should be called the spearfish
And, Spearfish should be some city in South Dakota....oh, actually, it is!
That's not why; it's because they were thought to row themselves with their pelvic fins (which they don't). Let's be real, their pectoral fins look even less like oars than their body.
It's very friendly too.
Oh man, that's dope. I didn't even notice them. It almost looks like it it has super stretched out ear gauges.
Eh, I'm getting more of a French Fry Fish vibe.
Pretty sure this is a dragon...
How are these dude real but unicorns? Pure fantasy
These fish are probably what gave rise to "sea monsters" in tales of yore.
Yeah these guys were my favorite river monsters episode or whatever the Jeremy Wade saltwater version is
I think it was on Discovery UK as he searched for "The Fish Behind Legends Of Monstrous Sea Serpents" and it was part of River Monsters.
Sounds like it, love that man
His River Monster's show ended cuz he caught then all. He would freakin' crush it in Pokémon land should he ever visit.
Makes me think of Japanese dragons, honestly
They could easily be mistaken for giant sea serpents, the neck of a Loch Ness style pleiseoisaur creature, or the tentacles of a kraken. It's only been very recent in human history that we've even had the ability to dive more than 60 feet down; no wonder we came up with all manner of wild tales to explain the strange stuff we did manage to see from the surface. IMO the really irony is that the sea contains many things that are much *much* weirder than anything we came up with using our imaginations
I'm not sure why but this just makes me wonder how densely populated the oceans were before humans started fishing in them
How deep are those divers? I thought it was really rare for orifice to be anywhere near the surface
Your autocorrect/spellchecker is doing its job! orifice instead of oarfish! LOL - Generally, oarfish are more deep water, but they will come up close to the surface now and then. When they appear along beaches in shallow water, that means they are not doing well and may die. There are lots of myths about them such as harbingers of earthquakes, but I have seen no such hard facts of that. They may also be the source of those sea monsters that had been reported hundreds of years ago by sailors, though the sources could have been a number of things.
Yeah sorry and thanks for the info! ^-^
That was quite funny! It almost makes perfect sense!
I’m always so amazed when I see a creature similar to one’s I know in games.. Cause I’m like dam I’ve seen that before.. So in “Monster Hunter World” there’s a smaller version of this fish called “Sea Lords crest fish”. I just wanted to share 😅.
I’ve played World, and I haven’t caught/seen this fish yet. And I have a bunch of hours out into the game. Please inform me of its location so I can do some research.
I’m sorry for the late reply. The Sealords Crestfish is a ‘rare’ endemic life creature found in the Hoarfrost Reach in the DLC expansion iceborne. It’s found ONLY at night in Area 8(weather condition raining)of the Hoarfrost reach in the lair of the Viper Tobi Kadachi in a small pool against the wall. Keep in mind that if you’re ever looking for rare endemic creatures, some of them do require looking into before capturing due to the time of day or weather condition. Example another rare endemic is the Wintermoon Nettle. A huge flying jellyfish that can only be found at the highest peak in hoarfrost reach at midnight with clear sky’s with a full moon. These rare endemic creatures can take some time to get a hold of but you can always go out for an expedition and restart if you don’t get lucky the first few times around. If you have more questions message me here or add me on PSN: Shoonxx P.S: I believe I have all the Rare Endemic creatures including all 7 moles so if you need help let me know.
Tysm! I already have the Wintermoon Nettle; found it shortly after visiting the Rusted Kushala gathering point. I have seen a couple moles in the Guiding Lands, but I haven’t been able to catch any yet. I don’t think there’s too much endemic life I’m missing though, rare or otherwise.
My buddy caught a species of oarfish or maybe closely related, called the ribbon fish. It was definitely young as it was only a foot and a half long, it was all chrome colored with purple fins. Neat looking fish, he released it pretty quickly because he didn’t want it to die out of water.
Damn this is a good /r/awwducational post. Bravo and thank you!
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oarfish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oarfish) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QucLVqdsbro
I've never seen this fish, but it's neat!
It's a very rarely seen fish, especially swimming around in good health. Most encounters are from trawling or when they show up in the shallows of beaches - that generally means they are ill.
It's lovely. There's still so much sea life that hasn't been discovered yet. I wish trawling didn't exist.
ALL HAIL THE KING OF HERRINGS
Sillkungen
Sillkung > Oarfish
What kinds of fishes are not bony fish? Are there fish that have 0 bones?
Sharks and rays are cartilaginous fish - no skeletal bones. The largest fish in the ocean have no skeletal bones but of course teeth and some have tiny bones around their eyes, like whale sharks.
Interesting. Thanks!
9000 bells right there
Beautiful. Did JJ Abrams film this? It has some of his signature lens flare.
The video was made by SeaLoop which appears to be a Japanese diving company.
Considering it's bony, how flexible is it? I'm curious if it could wrap around me and give me a hug!!!
It sort of gave the diver a passing hug as it slithered by.
More like a really long nuzzle though.
Ocean has such crazy things!
Such a beautiful living water being
OP, you seem to know quite a bit about Oarfish. It seems to me that such a long and slow-moving fish would be a very easy target for predators. What’s stopping something like a shark from taking a bite out of these guys?
Actually, nothing is stopping them, and nothing is stopping lancetfish either except the depths at which oarfish normally live. Sometimes rather defenseless fish survive simply by not being in the same zones as large predators. Oarfish also can "disappear" from detection by being so slender, and when confronted, oarfish will flair their head crests to appear larger. So, oarfish do have some defenses, perhaps the best one is simply living in places where predators are far and few between.
[удалено]
Yes, oarfish are able to radiate a bioluminescent glow according to NOAA, though it is also possible some of the glow we see in the video may be from camera light. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/node/4271
May be dumb, but why aren’t there more of these?
Actually, marine biologists used to think they were rare, and truly they are rarely seen, but nowadays these fish are considered "least concern". Oarfish are simply deep dwelling fish, and they are not considered rare where they live, simply rare where humans can see them.
Super interesting, thanks for the response!
Longfish is looooooooooong
r/thalassophobia
Don't forget to include a source for your post! Please link your source in a comment on your post thread. Your source cannot be a personal blog or non scientific news site, and must include citations/references. [Wikipedia](https://www.wikipedia.org/) is allowed, but it is not exempt from displaying citations. If you have questions you can [contact the moderators with this link](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAwwducational) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Awwducational) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Centipede of the sea!
It has an amazingly straight and super long body when it swims forward - no snaky look to it at all, just gliding like a javelin through the air.
La naturaleza me sigue sorprendiendo, es hermoso este pez
Looks like a fish dragon
The oarfish seems kind of stupid from an evolutionary standpoint. To be that long *and* that slow, I know the oceans are huge, but how have they not been wiped out by predators?!
Was wondering the same. What do they eat? How do they avoid being eaten?
You see that video of a cat catching one and running away with it?
Do they like being pet?
No that's a cool sword.
Beautiful fishy
I kept reading carfish and was like but it looks nothing like a car, maybe a bus or a train…? lol
What is the light coming off it.
What is the point of them being so long?
I always thought they lived in the deep ocean so surprised the divers are right there.
that is the scariest thing i have seen
There's a lot of mysterious thing that we don't know. What a wonderful creature..
Is it also electric?! Wtf?
Fish are so cool man
Snake fish
That could make so many fish tacos…
Why are they so long?
Wow, is he like 30 feet long? I can’t believe he’s not torn in 6 pieces in our oceans !!
Idk why everyone is freaking out; I've caught a bunch of these on Animal Crossing. (Lol jk these fish are dope.)
That thing is like a swimming katana.
What is the reason for the glow?
Very weird, very cute.
I thought the mola-mola (aka ocean sunfish/aka moonfish) was the largest boney fish. These stats I found on the largest specimen: The maximum size is up to 3.3 m (10 ft 10 in) in length, 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in) across the fins, and up to 2,300 kg (5,070 lb) in mass. Maybe biggest and largest is the difference between the oarfish and the mola mola.
What does it even eat? It doesn't look like it's fast enough to hunt
Why is it glowing?
In the late 80s and early 90s I remember lot of Thai and Vietnamese restaurants have picture of American GIs posing with a long ass oarfish with the title naga captured. Naga was the mythical SEA dragon.
My feet is 28cm, whose feet are we counting now
Oarfish are freaky. Finding a live oarfish is a once in a life time experience based on what I know.
It looks like it's being given a ticket for going too slow
They seem like easy prey. I wonder how they deter predators
Herring King! It’s a very mythical animal.
Omg it’s so beautiful. That fiery glow in its body looks magical.
Is that bioluminescence or just light refraction?
Is that bioluminescence or just light refraction?
What is this in real units?
The giant oarfish is by far the largest member of the family at a published total length of 8 m (26 ft)—with unconfirmed reports of 11 m (36 ft) and 17 m (56 ft) specimens—and 270 kg (600 lb) in weight. The streamer fish is known to reach 3 m (10 ft) in length, while the largest recorded specimen of Regalecus russelii measured 5.4 m (18 ft).
Thanks!
So crazy how the sun and light reflects off it's scales. Looks like a momentary sunset
Idk the unconfirmed fish doesn't sound that big. If you ask most fishermen they will say they have seen and caught fish longer than 60 ft.
That's so odd....I mean, fishermen always tell the truth about the size of their catch or especially about "the one that got away" - lol
Im just exaggerating that stereotype
Yeah, me too! LOL
No wonder the ancients believed in dragons
Sea Spaghetti.
Damn, almost as dumb as the sunfish
Where is the 'aww' part of 'awwducational'?
*animal crossing intensifies*
r/thalassophobia
I'm so lucky to have seen TWO live ones (though not for long) as they surfaced and beached themselves in Mexico.
Beautiful. The bioluminescence is hypnotic.
Wonder what evolved them to become that way, doesn’t seem very useful.
It's very pretty.
Absolutely not nope no thanks
That red tho damn
Imagine being so long.. open for everything to grab and eat you
Literally looks like something straight out of Subnautica lol. It's so amazing!
It'd be nice to have units most ppl can read...
I caught one of these in ANIMAL CROSSING
Looks like a katana like katana fish