Oarfish
King of herrings
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Lampriformes Family: Regalecidae
Genera
Agrostichthys Regalecus Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1012x476, 88 KB) King of herrings (Regalecus glesne), a species of oarfish. ... Binomial name Regalecus glesne Ascanius, 1772 The king of herrings, Regalecus glesne, an oarfish of the family Regalecidae, is found in all the worlds oceans, at depths of between 20 and 1,000 m. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Animalia redirects here. ... Typical Classes Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicates Ascidiacea Thaliacea Larvacea Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets Subphylum Myxini - Hagfishes Subphylum Vertebrata - Vertebrates Petromyzontida - Lampreys Placodermi (extinct) Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes Acanthodii (extinct) Actinopterygii - Ray-finned fishes Actinistia - Coelacanths Dipnoi - Lungfishes Amphibia - Amphibians Reptilia - Reptiles Aves - Birds Mammalia - Mammals Chordates (phylum Chordata) include the vertebrates, together with... Orders See text The Actinopterygii are the ray-finned fish. ... Families Turkmenidae (extinct) Veliferidae (velifers) Lamprididae (opahs) Stylephoridae (tube-eye/thread-tail) Lophotidae (crestfishes) Radiicephalidae (tapertail) Trachipteridae (ribbonfishes) Regalecidae (oarfishes) Lampriformes (also spelt Lampridiformes) are an order of ray-finned fish that includes about 50 living species of deep sea fishes, including the opahs, crestfishes, ribbonfishes, and oarfish. ... For other uses of the word, please see Genus (disambiguation). ...

Oarfish are large, greatly elongated, pelagic Lampriform fish comprising the small family Regalecidae.^[1] Found in all temperate to tropical oceans yet rarely seen, the oarfish family contains four species in two genera. One of these, the king of herrings (Regalecus glesne), is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest bony fish alive, at up to 11 metres in length.^{[citation needed]} Families Turkmenidae (extinct) Veliferidae (velifers) Lamprididae (opahs) Stylephoridae (tube-eye/thread-tail) Lophotidae (crestfishes) Radiicephalidae (tapertail) Trachipteridae (ribbonfishes) Regalecidae (oarfishes) Lampriformes (also spelt Lampridiformes) are an order of ray-finned fish that includes about 50 living species of deep sea fishes, including the opahs, crestfishes, ribbonfishes, and oarfish. ... A giant grouper at the Georgia Aquarium Fish are aquatic vertebrates that are typically cold-blooded; covered with scales, and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins. ... In biological classification, family (Latin: familia, plural familiae) is 1) a rank or 2) a taxon in that rank. ... In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ... For other uses of the word, please see Genus (disambiguation). ... Binomial name Regalecus glesne Ascanius, 1772 The king of herrings, Regalecus glesne, an oarfish of the family Regalecidae, is found in all the worlds oceans, at depths of between 20 and 1,000 m. ... The Guinness Book of Records (or in recent editions Guinness World Records, and in previous US editions Guinness Book of World Records) is a book published annually, containing an internationally recognized collection of superlatives: both in terms of human achievement and the extrema of the natural world. ... Subclasses Actinopterygii Sarcopterygii Osteichthyes are the bony fish, a group paraphyletic to the land vertebrates, which are sometimes included. ...

The common name oarfish is presumably in reference to either their highly compressed and elongated bodies or the shape and use of their pelvic fins. The family name Regalecidae is derived from the Latin regalis, meaning "royal". The occasional beachings of oarfish after storms, and their habit of lingering at the surface when sick or dying, have given oarfish a place in maritime folklore as the probable source of many sea serpent tales. In science, a common name is any name by which a species or other concept is known that is not the official scientific name. ... Fish anatomy is primarily governed by the physical characteristics of water, which is much denser than air, holds a relatively small amount of dissolved oxygen, and absorbs light more than does air. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... A royal family is the extended family of a monarch. ... Loch Ness Monster (Painting) by Heikenwaelder Hugo Sea serpents are a kind of sea monster either wholly or partly serpentine. ...

Although the larger species are considered game fish and are (to a minor extent) fished commercially, oarfish are rarely caught alive; their flesh is not well regarded due to its gelatinous consistency. A Game fish is a fish that is pursued for sport, regardless of whether the fisherman ultimately eats the fish. ...

Anatomy and morphology

Oarfish that washed ashore on a Bermuda beach in 1860. The animal was 16 feet long and was originally described as a sea serpent.

The tapering, ribbony silver bodies of oarfish—together with an impressive, pinkish to cardinal red dorsal fin—help explain the perception of majesty taken from rare encounters. The dorsal fin originates from above the (relatively small) eyes and runs the entire length of the fish. Of the ca. 400 dorsal fin rays, the first 10–12 are elongated to varying degrees, forming a trailing crest embellished with reddish spots and flaps of skin at the ray tips. The pelvic fins are similarly elongated and adorned, reduced to 1–5 rays each. The pectoral fins are greatly reduced and situated low on the body. The anal fin is completely absent and the caudal fin may be reduced or absent as well, with the body tapering to a fine point. All fins lack true spines. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1017x455, 303 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Sea serpent Oarfish ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1017x455, 303 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Sea serpent Oarfish ... Loch Ness Monster (Painting) by Heikenwaelder Hugo Sea serpents are a kind of sea monster either wholly or partly serpentine. ... Dorsal Fin of the Orca A dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of fishes, whales, dolphins and porpoises. ... A human eye. ... Fish anatomy is primarily governed by the physical characteristics of water, which is much denser than air, holds a relatively small amount of dissolved oxygen, and absorbs light more than does air. ... Fish anatomy is primarily governed by the physical characteristics of water, which is much denser than air, holds a relatively small amount of dissolved oxygen, and absorbs light more than does air. ... Fish anatomy is primarily governed by the physical characteristics of water, which is much denser than air, holds a relatively small amount of dissolved oxygen, and absorbs light more than does air. ... Raised thorns on the stem of the wait-a-bit climber Thorns on rose stems A spine is a rigid, pointed surface protuberance or needle-like structure on an animal, shell, or plant, presumably serving as a defense against attack by predators. ...

Like other members of its order, the oarfish has a small yet highly protrusible oblique mouth with no visible teeth. The body is scaleless and the skin covered with easily abraded, silvery guanine. In the streamer fish (Agrostichthys parkeri), the skin is clad with hard tubercles. All species lack gas bladders and the number of gill rakers is variable. The visible teeth of a smile. ... In this SEM image of a butterfly wing the scales are clearly visible, and the tiny platelets on each individual scale are just barely visible in the striping. ... Guanine is one of the five main nucleobases found in the nucleic acids DNA and RNA; the others being adenine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil. ... 1. ... The gas bladder of a Rudd The gas bladder (also fish maw, less accurately swim bladder or air bladder) is an internal organ that contributes to the ability of a fish to control its buoyancy, and thus to stay at the current water depth, ascend, or descend without having to... Fish anatomy is primarily governed by the physical characteristics of water, which is much denser than air, holds a relatively small amount of dissolved oxygen, and absorbs light more than does air. ...

Oarfish coloration is also variable; the flanks are commonly covered with irregular bluish to blackish streaks, black dots, and squiggles. These markings quickly fade following death. The king of herrings is by far the largest member of the family at a published total length of 11 metres (with unconfirmed reports of 15 metres or more) and 272 kilograms in weight. The streamer fish is known to reach 3 metres total length whilst the largest recorded specimen of Regalecus russelii measured just 5.5 centimetres standard length. It is probable that this little-known species can regularly reach a maximum length of at least 15.2 m (50 ft).^{[citation needed]} The U.S. National Prototype Kilogram, which currently serves as the primary standard for measuring mass in the U.S. It was assigned to the United States in 1889 and is periodically recertified and traceable to the primary international standard, The Kilogram, held at the Bureau International des Poids et... A spring scale measures the weight of an object In the physical sciences, weight is a measurement of the gravitational force acting on an object. ...

Distribution

The members of the family are known to have a somewhat worldwide range. However, specific encounters with live individuals in-situ are rare and distribution information is collated from records of oarfishes caught or washed ashore.^{[citation needed]}

Ecology and life history

Rare encounters with divers and accidental catches by trawls have supplied what little is known of oarfish behaviour and ecology. Apparently solitary animals, oarfish may frequent significant depths from 20–1,000 metres. In Bermuda, Teddy Tucker, a fisherman and treasure hunter, has reported their surfacing at night when lights were at the surface. It is possible that the light attracted them. Categories: Fisheries science | Fishing | Stub ... Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour (particularly of social animals such as primates and canids), and is a branch of zoology. ... Ernst Haeckel coined the term oekologie in 1866. ...

Behaviour

It was not until 2001 that an oarfish was filmed alive and in situ: the 1.5 metre fish was spotted by a group of US Navy personnel during the inspection of a buoy in the Bahamas [1]. The oarfish was observed to propel itself via an amiiform mode of swimming; that is, rhythmically undulating the dorsal fin whilst keeping the body itself straight. Perhaps indicating a feeding posture, oarfish have been observed swimming in a vertical orientation, with their long axes perpendicular to the ocean surface. In this posture the downstreaming light would silhouette the oarfishes' prey, making them easier to spot. 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The United States Navy, also known as the USN or the U.S. Navy, is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations. ... A sea lion on navigational buoy #14 in San Diego Harbor Green can #11 near the mouth of the Saugatuck river. ...

Feeding ecology

Oarfish feed primarily on zooplankton, selectively straining tiny euphausiids, shrimp, and other crustaceans from the water. Small fish, jellyfish, and squid are also taken. Large open-ocean carnivores are all likely predators of oarfish, and include the Oceanic whitetip shark. Photomontage of plankton organisms Plankton is the aggregate community of weakly swimming but mostly drifting small organisms that inhabit the water column of the ocean, seas, and bodies of freshwater. ... Euphausiid is the scientific name for shrimp-like marine invertebrates, important organisms of the plankton (zooplankton), also called krill. ... Superfamilies Alpheoidea Atyoidea Bresilioidea Campylonotoidea Crangonoidea Galatheacaridoidea Nematocarcinoidea Oplophoroidea Palaemonoidea Pandaloidea Pasiphaeoidea Procaridoidea Processoidea Psalidopodoidea Stylodactyloidea True shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. ... Classes & Subclasses Branchiopoda Phyllopoda Sarsostraca Remipedia Cephalocarida Maxillopoda Thecostraca Tantulocarida Branchiura Pentastomida Mystacocarida Copepoda Ostracoda Myodocopa Podocopa Malacostraca Phyllocarida Hoplocarida Eumalacostraca The nauplius larva of a dendrobranchiate Porcellio scaber, the common rough woodlouse, a terrestrial crustacean Pollicipes polymerus, the gooseneck barnacle Glyphea pseudastacus, a fossil glypheoid The crustaceans (Crustacea) are... Orders Stauromedusae Coronatae Semaeostomeae Rhizostomae Jellyfish are marine invertebrates belonging to the Scyphozoan class. ... Suborders Myopsina Oegopsina Squid are a large, diverse group of marine cephalopods. ... Binomial name Carcharhinus longimanus (Poey, 1861) Range of oceanic whitetip shark The oceanic whitetip shark, Carcharhinus longimanus, is a large pelagic shark of tropical and warm temperate seas. ...

Life history

The oceanodromous Regalecus glesne is recorded as spawning off Mexico from July to December; all species are presumed to be non-guarders and release buoyant eggs which are incorporated into the zooplankton. Larvae and juveniles have been observed drifting just below the surface, where they too feed primarily on plankton. In contrast, adult oarfish are rarely seen at the surface when not sick or injured. Many types of fish undertake migrations on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annual, and with distances ranging from a few meters to thousands of kilometers. ... Look up spawn in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In most birds and reptiles, an egg (Latin ovum) is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. ... Photomontage of plankton organisms Plankton is the aggregate community of weakly swimming but mostly drifting small organisms that inhabit the water column of the ocean, seas, and bodies of freshwater. ... A larval insect A larva (Latin; plural larvae) is a juvenile form of animal with indirect development, undergoing metamorphosis (for example, insects or amphibians). ...

Etymology and taxonomic history

• Genus Agrostichthys
  • Streamer fish, Agrostichthys parkeri (Benham, 1904)
• Genus Regalecus
  • King of herrings, Regalecus glesne Ascanius, 1772
  • Regalecus kinoi Castro-Aguirre, Arvizu-Martinez & Alarcon-Gonzalez, 1991
  • Regalecus russelii (Cuvier, 1816)

Binomial name Regalecus glesne Ascanius, 1772 The king of herrings, Regalecus glesne, an oarfish of the family Regalecidae, is found in all the worlds oceans, at depths of between 20 and 1,000 m. ... Binomial name Regalecus glesne Ascanius, 1772 The king of herrings, Regalecus glesne, an oarfish of the family Regalecidae, is found in all the worlds oceans, at depths of between 20 and 1,000 m. ...

See also

• List of fish families
• List of fish common names

This is a list of fish families sorted alphabetically by scientific name. ... This is a list of fish common names. ...

Bibliography

• "Regalecidae". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. February 2005 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2005.
• Pete Thomas, Blue Demons, The Los Angeles Times, August 26, 2006.
• "Woman angler lands legendary sea monster". Russell Jenkins. February 2005 version. The Times Online; February 21, 2003.
• Fishes: An Introduction to ichthyology. Peter B. Moyle and Joseph J. Cech, Jr; p. 338. Printed in 2004. Prentice-Hall, Inc; Upper Saddle River, NJ. ISBN 0-13-100847-1

FishBase is a comprehensive database of information about fish. ...

References

FishBase is a comprehensive database of information about fish. ...

External links

• The Australian Museum oarfish page
• Oarfish pictures and information including the truth about one internet hoax
• Video of an oarfish hovering in the water
• Video of an oarfish caught off Malaysia