You've Never Seen a Video of This Odd, Deep-Sea Fish Alive...Until Now!

You're about to see something you've never seen before. Below is what scientists are calling the first-ever video of a live and elusive deep-sea creature called the oarfish.

"The serpent-like denizens, which reside at great depths, are presumed responsible for spawning myths of sea monsters among ancient mariners," GrindTV notes.

The video is from a remotely-operated vehicle in 2011 in the northern Gulf of Mexico, but is just now being released.

So wondering what the oarfish looks like? Here you go:

(Source: screen shot)

Not much is known about the creature, but GrindTV does give some background:

Oarfish, which are named because of their oar-shaped fins and can reach lengths of 30-plus feet, are mysterious largely because of their near-lightless habitat and because the only specimens previously seen had washed ashore dead or dying.

[...]

Oudin added that the oarfish appeared to be blind, which isn’t surprising, considering that these denizens, which have large saucer-shaped eyes, live at lightless depths of 1,500 to 3,000 feet.

Little else is known about these longest of bony fishes because so few have been found, but, like the giant squid, they’re steeped in lore, believed responsible for spawning tales of serpents and dragons rising demonically to steal crewmen and sink tall ships.

Below is an edited video from GrindTV showing the fish:

Here is the full 10-minute version:

Earlier this year a group of fisherman in Hawaii hauled in what some thought might have been an oarfish, but the creature was headless. Still, the 7-foot long specimen did have some of the characteristics:

Friends of photographer Jon Schwartz sent him photos of an unidentifiable, dead fish they found. (Photo via BluewaterJon)

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