Incredibly rare 17-feet oarfish washes up off US coast

Source: Agencies | June 4, 2015, Thursday |

Online Edition

They are mysterious sea creatures that almost exclusively stay in the darkest depths of the ocean - between about 1,000 and 3,000 feet below the surface, Daily Mail reported.

So it was an incredibly rare discovery to have an oarfish - the animal said to have spawned tales of sea monsters - wash ashore this week on South Catalina Island, one of the coastal isles off Los Angeles, said the report.

The dead fish, which was being picked at by seagulls and partially degraded, was discovered in the water off Sandy Beach by a harbor patrolman, according to the report.

It took a large group of adults to pull the oarfish out of the water and bring it ashore.

Oarfish have a crimson-colored dorsal fin that resembles a mane, according to Grind TV.

Preferring to stay in the ocean's abyss, oarfish will only typically come near the surface if they are dead or sick, making them largely unstudied.

The oarfish is a deep-water pelagic fish — the longest bony fish in the world, according to CIMI.

They are likely responsible for the supposed sea serpent legends throughout history.

The giant oarfish was first discovered in 1772 by Norwegian biologist Peter Ascanius.

It's formal scientific title is Regalecus glesne, but the fish is also known as king of the herring, Pacific oarfish, streamer fish and ribbon-fish.

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Incredibly rare 17-feet oarfish washes up off US coast

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