Another oarfish found on beach

It is the third oarfish to be found along Geographe Bay in recent months after residents discovered two oarfish on the beach near the Busselton Jetty in November last year.

Department of Fisheries senior officer Steve Embling said oarfish were a slow moving, deep water species which could be why they struggled in shallow water with big swells and waves.

Mr Embling said scientists were unsure why oarfish came in close to shore but they turned up around the WA coast a couple of times a year.

He said because they were from the deep water if they got close to shore in the shallows they would likely be close to death.

“They are such an unusual looking thing,” he said.

WA Museum curator of fishes Dr Glenn Moore said the Giant Oarfish Regalecus glesne was found throughout most of the world’s oceans from the surface down to about 1,000 metres.  

Dr Moore said they were usually about three to four metres long, but often reached as much as 11 metres in length, making them the longest bony fish in the world.  

“There are unconfirmed reports of oarfish up to 17 metres long," he said.

Dr Moore said oarfish were long and ribbon-like with a long red dorsal fin along the back, and had a red crest on the head.

“The name ‘oarfish’ comes from the long ventral fins, which are the fins along the fish’s belly, that have a paddle-like tip. They do not have scales, instead they are covered with tiny wart-like tubercles," he said.

“We do not know very much about their behaviour, but a few years ago several oarfish were filmed in Mexico by an unmanned submersible.

“It is mesmerising to watch the footage.”

Dr Moore said oarfish were most often seen close to shore after storms or when dying.

“Their long serpent-like body and behaviour when in the shallows (usually struggling) led them to be the source of myth about sea-serpents," he said.

“But they are completely harmless, eat krill, other small crustaceans and fishes.”