King of herrings

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]

Contents

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


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • king of the herrings — noun 1. The shad 2. The oarfish 3. Applied also to various other fishes, such as the opah, the rabbitfish or chimera • • • Main Entry: ↑king …   Useful english dictionary

  • King of the herrings — Herring Her ring (h[e^]r r[i^]ng), n. [OE. hering, AS. h[ae]ring; akin to D. haring, G. h[ a]ring, hering, OHG. haring, hering, and prob. to AS. here army, and so called because they commonly move in large numbers. Cf. {Harry}.] (Zo[ o]l.) One of …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • king of the herrings — Opah O pah, n. (Zo[ o]l.) A large oceanic fish ({Lampris guttatus}), inhabiting the Atlantic Ocean. It is remarkable for its brilliant colors, which are red, green, and blue, with tints of purple and gold, covered with round silvery spots. Called …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • king-of-the-herrings — vaivorykštinė dalgiažuvė statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas taksono rangas rūšis atitikmenys: lot. Trachipterus iris angl. Atlantic ribbonfish; iris ribbonfish; king of the herrings rus. радужная рыба лента; радужный вогмер ryšiai: platesnis… …   Žuvų pavadinimų žodynas

  • king-of-the-herrings — silkių karalius statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas taksono rangas rūšis atitikmenys: lot. Regalecus glesne angl. king of the herrings; ribbonfish rus. обыкновенная ремень рыба; обыкновенный сельдяной король ryšiai: platesnis terminas –… …   Žuvų pavadinimų žodynas

  • king-of-the-herrings — šiaurinė dalgiažuvė statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas taksono rangas rūšis atitikmenys: lot. Trachipterus arcticus angl. dealfish; king of the herrings rus. северная рыба лента; северный вогмер ryšiai: platesnis terminas – dalgiažuvės …   Žuvų pavadinimų žodynas

  • king herring — a herring of a blood red colour which reputedly acts as pilot to a school of herrings. If caught, it is always thrown overboard by the fishermen, as keeping it would bring bad luck …   Dictionary of ichthyology

  • king of the herrings — noun 1. the shad, genus Clupea, said to resemble a large herring. 2. any of several other fish, as the oarfish, opah, rabbit fish …  

  • king-of-the-herrings — ˈ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˈ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ noun : oarfish …   Useful english dictionary

  • Oarfish — King of herrings Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”