6th (recent) Oarfish Appears on West Aussie Shores

[sarongsong]

"... Prefering to live in the depths of the ocean...have rarely been seen alive..." (http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Creature-from-the-deep/2005/02/06/1107625063911.html)
http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2005/02/06/oarfish430_wideweb__430x242.jpg
Photo: Astrid Volzke
(edited to add photo credit and revised link)

[Nicolas]

Cool fish! 8)

You need to subscribe for the article however. But thanks for sharing the (copyrighted? :);)) pic!

[sarongsong]

Thanks for the photo tip, sorry about the registration; this one washed up dead and the article intimates the other 5 ("...in recent months...") were as well.

[Nicolas]

OK the link works for me now. That photo thing was more of a joke than a tip, but it won't hurt the photographer to see his name underneath his photo (I would like it if I'd taken the picture).

The article says the longest oarfish are 9 meters. I read about 15 meters or more on other articles (lost the links). Any info? If it is like that python that was a claimed 49 feet but was "only" 21 in reality (huge snakes always tend to shrink whenever a tape meter turns up :D), I have my answer... :)

[Gullible Jones]

"The oarfish is not good to eat..."

Why? Does it accumulate toxins from the plankton it eats or something?

[01101001]

"The oarfish is not good to eat..."

Why? Does it accumulate toxins from the plankton it eats or something?
Too much of it hangs out of the barby, is raw and tastes like dirt.

[Wally]

"The oarfish is not good to eat..."

Why? Does it accumulate toxins from the plankton it eats or something?
Too much of it hangs out of the barby, is raw and tastes like dirt.

=D>

Besides, even if it tasted good, it takes over 2 weeks to fillet the darn thing (and that's just 1 side!!!). :wink:

[sarongsong]

The picture shows it to be pretty much intact for having come up from 'the depths'---other sea creatures must consider it distasteful as well.

[Nicolas]

I have this theory that giant oarfish are in fact whales that were trapped in nets but managed to push through it :)

[archman]

The picture shows it to be pretty much intact for having come up from 'the depths'---other sea creatures must consider it distasteful as well.

It's really not thought of much as a "deep sea critter", except to the layfolks. Oarfish are primarily mesopelagic, living in the "twilight" zone of the water column. So they're not as fragile and gelatinous as the real crazy looking fishes further down. Their musculature is reasonably well developed. But oarfish do on occasion migrate to shallow waters... I've seen photos taken of them by scuba divers. Personally I would pee my wetsuit if something like that popped into my field of view!

[AGN Fuel]

I have this theory that giant oarfish are in fact whales that were trapped in nets but managed to push through it :)

:lol: =D>

Is it possible then that the 6 oarfish just came from the one whale???

And can we say that the whale strained himself....... (sorry.. :oops: )

[mopc]

Does anybody have links with pics and info on those bizarre deep-water life forms??? They always freak me out!

edit: just found this Russian forum on underwater see life, the thread says "these are fish found after the tsunami in Thaland"...

http://forum.openwater.ru/index.php?showtopic=611

[Captain Kidd]

edit: just found this Russian forum on underwater see life, the thread says "these are fish found after the tsunami in Thaland"...

http://forum.openwater.ru/index.php?showtopic=611Urban Legend (http://www.snopes.com/photos/tsunami/creature.asp)
Although they are genuine images of some rather strange deep-sea creatures, these photographs have nothing to do with the Indian Ocean tsunami. They date from mid-2003 and were taken as part of the NORFANZ voyage, a joint Australian-New Zealand research expedition conducted in May-June 2003 to explore deep sea habitats and biodiversity in the Tasman Sea. These photographs can be viewed on Australia's National Oceans Office web site.

[mopc]

Don't wanna go too off-topic, but look what I found about the freakish angler fish:

http://www.allthesea.com/Deep-Sea-Fish-Angler-Fish.html

"Another unusual adaptation in anglerfish is their sexual dimorphism. The males are very small in comparison with the females, and live as permanent parasites on the female. The male attaches himself, by biting, to the body of the female. His mouth fuses with her skin, and the bloodstreams of the two fishes become connected. The male is now totally dependent on the female for nourishment. In fact, the male begins to degenerate. His eyes grow smaller and he eventually loses them. His internal organs disappear. The male becomes simply a source of sperm. Breeding for anglerfish takes place from spring to early summer. The egg mass forms large gelatinous sheets 9m by 3m in size, which floats near the surface. Juveniles are planktonic, with noticeably elongated fin rays."


I thought the thing merely LOOKED weird!!!!

[dgruss23]

There are some really strange creatures in the ocean! Cool stuff!

[Inferno]

I've always been fascinated by the strange creatures that live in the ocean depths.

Here's some more:

http://www.snopes.com/photos/tsunami/creature.asp

[Nergal]

Is it possible then that the 6 oarfish just came from the one whale???

And can we say that the whale strained himself....... (sorry.. :oops: )
*groan* very punny.

[dgruss23]

Is it possible then that the 6 oarfish just came from the one whale???

And can we say that the whale strained himself....... (sorry.. :oops: )
*groan* very punny.

I think we should seas the opportunity to blow a lot of holes in AGN Fuel's theory. :wink: