King of herrings

King of Herrings
Taxidermied specimen of Regalecus glesne in the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Lampriformes
Family:	Regalecidae
Genus:	Regalecus
Species:	R. glesne
Binomial name
Regalecus glesne Ascanius, 1772
Synonyms [1]
Cephalepis octomaculatus Rafinesque, 1810 Cepola gladius Walbaum, 1792 Gymnetrus ascanii Shaw, 1803 Gymnetrus banksii Valenciennes, 1835 Gymnetrus capensis Valenciennes, 1835 Gymnetrus gladius Valenciennes, 1835 Gymnetrus grillii Lindroth, 1798 Gymnetrus hawkenii Bloch, 1795 Gymnetrus longiradiatus Risso, 1820 Gymnetrus telum Valenciennes, 1835 Regalecus banksii (Valenciennes, 1835) Regalecus caudatus Zugmayer, 1914 Regalecus jonesii Newman, 1860 Regalecus masterii De Vis, 1891 Regalecus pacificus Haast, 1878 Regalecus remipes Brünnich, 1788

The king of herrings or giant oarfish, an oarfish of the family Regalecidae, is the world's longest bony fish. Rarely sighted, it is found in all the world's oceans at depths of between 300 and 1000 meters. Most sightings have been in the north Atlantic, with most specimens found either dead or dying in shallow waters.^[2]

The king of herrings is neither a true herring nor a close relative. According to the Great Book of Animals, its name comes from being sighted near shoals of herring, which fishermen thought were being guided by this fish.^[2] It is scaleless, ribbon-shaped and silvery with a long, red dorsal fin.^[2]

Description

1895 illustration of Regalecus glesne.

The king of herrings is the world's longest bony fish.^[3] Its total length has been documented to reach 17 m (56 ft), and it can weigh up to 300 kg (661 lb). Its length and bizarre appearance are presumed to be responsible for some sea serpent sightings.^[4]

Sightings

Navy SEALs display a 23-foot (7.0-metre) Giant Oarfish, Regalecus glesne (Regalecidae), caught in 1996 off Coronado, California, USA

In May 2010, a dead 3 m specimen was found off the coast of Sweden. The last time one had been reported in Swedish waters was in 1879.^[5]

On December 10 2010, a live specimen of four meters was found on the south coast of Sinaloa state in Mexico. One of the fisherman who captured it said it might be the devil and feared it might swallow them.^[6]

On April 6 2011, a live specimen measuring 3.5 m was found off the east coast of Taiwan, nearly a month after the devastating tsunami hit Japan in March. Taiwanese fishermen believed that it surfaced to the shallow water because of the earthquake in Japan. They gave it the nickname: Earthquake Fish.^[7]

References

1. ^ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). "Recalegus glesne" in FishBase. April 2006 version.
2. ^ ^{a b c} (1997).The Great Book of Animals. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Courage Books, Running Press Publishers. p.102. ISBN 0-7624-0137-0.
3. ^ "Rare 'King of Herrings' found off Swedish coast". Yahoo! News. 12 May 2010. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100512/ap_on_fe_st/eu_odd_sweden_giant_herring. Retrieved 2010-05-13. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ Encyclopedia of Fishes, Second Edition, p 157, Paxton, et al.,(Eds), 1998, Academic Press
5. ^ 4:42 p.m. ET. "Fisherman's find: rare, 12-foot-long creature". MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37114903/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/. Retrieved 2010-05-14. 
6. ^ Capturan en Teacapán raro pez
7. ^ [1]

Further reading

Regalecus juvenile

• Glover, C.J.M. in Gomon, M.F, J.C.M. Glover & R.H. Kuiter (Eds). 1994. The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. State Print, Adelaide. Pp. 992.
• Olney, J.E. Ii Paxton, J.R. & W.N. Eschmeyer (Eds). 1994. Encyclopedia of Fishes. Sydney: New South Wales University Press; San Diego: Academic Press [1995]. Pp. 240.
• Bourton, J. Giant bizarre deep sea fish filmed in Gulf of Mexico BBC News 8 February 2010.

External links

• Regalecus glesne at FishBase
• King of herrings at the Encyclopedia of Life
• Magazine picture