Think like an Oarfish
By Julie Cremer
Its cold everywhere I go, cold and very dark. My long, thin body sways and
ripples with the strong currents. Down here the pressure is so strong, other fish would be
crushed in seconds. Thank goodness my body is flat so that it can withstand the force. I
spend the majority of my days floating in this infinite liquid called an ocean waiting for
food to pass me by. There is no left or right, up or down. I simply float.
Meet the oarfish; deemed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest
bony fish alive. Oarfish are pretty rare and were hardly known to man until 1772. Living
at depths of up to 3,300 feet below the surface, a majority of the biology and behavior of
these animals is unknown. However, in April of this past year, members of an ecotourism
expedition from the Shedd Aquarium encountered, not one, but TWO oarfish hanging out
in a shallow lagoon off the coast of Baja California. Team members were able to capture
video footage of the two fish while kayaking north of La Paz, near Isla San Francisco.
Sadly, the oarfish managed to beach themselves on the shore after swimming around for
twenty to thirty minutes. Despite many efforts, attempts to push the oarfish back out into
Oarfish Biology
This Oarfish washed up in Malibu California
Oarfish can reach a length of 50-60 feet while weighing in at a whopping 600
pounds! I think a house cat would lose his whiskers if he caught sight at this giant of a
fish. The name, “oarfish”, originates from this fish’s long, compact body in addition to
the belief of oarfish “rowing” themselves with their pelvic fins through water. The home
of the oarfish consists of every ocean in the world minus the polar seas. Throughout the
centuries, oarfish have been found cast upon beaches in the wake of storms or seen near
the surface when injured or dying. Encounters like this are what may have given birth to
tales and legends of sea serpents by mariners. I don’t blame them. I would be having
nightmares too if I had just hauled up a sixty foot, flopping, slimy creature that resembled
a cross somewhere between a mutant eel and Moby Dick.
Based upon observations of dead specimens, oarfish have very large eyes above a
protruding mouth with no visible teeth. Their elongated bodies do not have scales but
instead are covered with a substance called silver guanine. The dorsal fin, located on the
top of the body, runs all the way from the head to the very tip of the tail. 400 rays or
bones make up the foundation of the dorsal fin with the first 10-12 forming an impressive
crest that would make a peacock jealous. Oarfish do not have a swim bladder like other
fish but swim by weaving their body back and forth in the water like a ribbon waving in
the wind. Plankton, crustaceans and squid need to be on the lookout for this monster
I encourage you to take a few minutes today and place yourself in the fins of an
oarfish. What would it be like to be this animal? How would our perceptions of time and
space change? How would we perceive and sense the world around us? What a challenge
since we are obviously not fish! However, it’s smashing good fun and interesting to
theorize the possibilities. We should not let any chance pass us by to learn and study all
we can when it comes to the ocean’s inhabitants. So the next time you play an icebreaker
at a large party with strange people you don’t know and the question for the icebreaker is,
“If you could be any animal in the world, what would you be?” you reply, “An oarfish!”
1. Clark Howard, Bryan. “Rare Video Shows ‘Sea Serpent’ Oarfish in Shallow
Ocean. National Geographic. 8 April. 2014. http://news.nationalgeopraphic.com/
news/2014/04/140408-giant-oarfish-video-deep-sea-fish/
2. Bester, Cathleen. Education. Biological Profiles. Oarfish. Icthyology at the
Florida Museum of Natural History. Web. 2 February, 2015 <http://www/
flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/gallery/Descript/oarfish/oarfish.html
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK2g4Nwdxco
2. (KABC PHOTO/ Viewer Laura Z. Wasserman
3. Harper’s Weekly. Ellis, R. 1994. Monsters of the Sea. Robert Hale Ltd.
