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giant oarfish
Sign in to saveAlso known as Regalecus glesne, king of the herrings
species of oarfish living in oceans
OverviewAI-generated
The giant oarfish, scientifically named *Regalecus glesne*, is a species of marine fish. It belongs to the family Regalecidae within the order Lampriformes, class Teleostei, and phylum Chordata. The species was described by Ascanius in 1772 and is currently accepted as a valid taxon. Common names for this organism include Giant Oarfish, Pez Remo, Régalec, and Regalec.
Its taxonomic range is listed as Brazil. The IUCN Red List assessed the species as Least Concern in 2015. The species is referenced by 35 other encyclopedia articles.
Synthesized by Vinony from 23 facts across 4 sources: Wikidata, WoRMS, IUCN Red List, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Species
Least Concerngiant oarfish
Species
- PhylumChordata
- ClassTeleostei
- OrderLampriformes
- FamilyRegalecidae
via IUCN
~14 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The giant oarfish (Regalecus glesne) is a species of oarfish of the family Regalecidae. It is an oceanodromous species with a worldwide distribution, excluding polar regions. Other common names include Pacific oarfish, king of herrings, and ribbonfish.
R. glesne is the world's longest ray-finned fish. Its shape is ribbon-like, narrow laterally, with a dorsal fin along its entire length, stubby pectoral fins, and long, oar-shaped pelvic fins, from which its common name is derived. Its coloration is silver and blue with spots of dark pigmentation, and its fins are crimson. Its physical characteristics and undulating mode of swimming have led to speculation that it might be the source of many "sea serpent" sightings. In 2016, the TV show River Monsters concluded that the most likely origin of the sea serpent myth is the oarfish; host Jeremy Wade was filmed diving with two living, healthy giant oarfish in the Mediterranean Sea.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “giant oarfish” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.