The Oarfish: Harbinger of Doom or Harmless? Quiz

Answer:

According to "Japan Today", Japanese mythology regarding the appearance of the oarfish dates back hundreds of years. Called "ryugu no tsukai", which means "messenger of the sea god's palace", it was believed that the oarfish lived under the islands of Japan until it was needed to warn humans of impending disaster. The belief was apparently forgotten by most people until quite recently. Japanese fishermen found dozens of oarfish on the beach in 2010 before an 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile. In 2011, before the Tohaku earthquake, about 20 oarfish were found on Japanese beaches. And, in 2017, people saw six oarfish in the Philippines before being hit with the deadly Surigao earthquake. The list goes on and on.

Oarfish belong to the family "Regalecidae", and really are quite mysterious. Why? They live worldwide in the mesopelagic zone of the ocean, an area of water that is 660 to 3300 feet deep (250-1000 meters), and, for this reason, are quite difficult to study. It is impossible for them to live closer to the water's surface, as their bodies contain little muscle mass, and are very fragile. They just cannot successfully navigate areas that are affected by ocean currents and choppy water and live to tell about it. When, for some reason, they swim out of their preferred habitat, they die soon after. That, of course, is why they are either dead or dying when people find them.

The giant oarfish is considered to be the longest boney fish alive today, but there is still a lot of mystery about estimating its length. While the longest oarfish on record (according to "Guiness World Records") was found in Maine in December 1885 and was 25 feet long, scientists recorded seeing one in the water off the coast of New Jersey in 1963 that they estimated to be 50 feet long. Rather than scales, it is covered with ganoine, a tissue that is easily damaged. The meat of the fish is considered to be inedible for humans. This is unfortunate, as an oarfish can weigh as much as 600 pounds (272 kilograms)!

Using the long dorsal fin to swim, oarfish have been spotted passing through the water vertically, rather than horizontally, like most fish. That shot down the previous theory about the name; it does not appear that the pelvic fins that look a bit like oars are used for swimming! Anyway, scientists believe the method of swimming allows oarfish to more easily escape predators.

As a filter feeder, the oarfish depends on its gill rakers to help filter food like krill, shrimp, jellyfish, and plankton. In fact, some experts hypothesize that the chase for food is what might bring the oarfish too close to the water's surface. The fact that it does not have teeth is puzzling to scientists as some oarfish have been found with no tail. It seems as if there might be an ability to somehow drop the tail when caught by a predator; some believe oarfish have a way to self-mutilate.

In their quest to discover more about oarfish, numerous scientists from all over the world have tried to find out if the oarfish is, indeed, a harbinger of doom. Their conclusion? In spite of his size, the oarfish appears to be rather harmless. There does NOT seem to be a correlation between his appearance and natural disasters.