COLOMBO — In the shadowy depths of the ocean lives a ribbon-like giant crowned with a fiery red crest — long mistaken for a sea monster. Rarely glimpsed alive, the oarfish holds the record as the world’s longest bony fish, capable of growing up to 8 meters (26 feet). It usually surfaces only by chance, and one such encounter off Sri Lanka marked the first confirmed record of an oarfish in the Indian Ocean, igniting maritime legend and modern science. The individual, measuring 2.6 m (8.5 ft), was accidentally caught in a surface tuna gillnet set by a multiday fishing vessel off Sri Lanka’s west coast. Curious fishers, unfamiliar with the strange catch, brought it ashore at Beruwala Fishery Harbour, where it was handed over to the authorities. Globally, three species of oarfish are recognized, namely giant oarfish Regalecus glesne), Russell’s oarfish (R. russelii) and streamerfish (Agrostichthys parkeri). Detailed examination by Ishara Rathnasuriya of the Ocean University of Sri Lanka confirmed the Sri Lankan specimen as R. russelii. Though collected in 2021, its significance was only recently formalized in a paper published in Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria, documenting it as the first oarfish record for the Indian Ocean. Only a few records of oarfish are scattered over the Indian Ocean and only two specimens have been identified to species level as R. russellii, Rathnasuriya says. The limited observations of R. glesne from the Indian Ocean highlight the importance of the current report, he adds. Meanwhile, reports of oarfish have surfaced…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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