oarfish

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oar·fish

(ôr′fĭsh′)

n. pl. oarfish or oar·fish·es

Any of several marine fishes of the family Regalecidae, especially Regalecus glesne, having a slender silvery body up to 11 meters (36 feet) in length, a crimson dorsal fin along its entire length, and long thin pelvic fins.

[Perhaps from the oarlike appearance of the pelvic fins.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

oarfish

(ˈɔːˌfɪʃ)

n, pl -fish or -fishes

(Animals) a very long ribbonfish, Regalecus glesne, with long slender ventral fins. Also called: king of the herrings

[C19: referring to the flattened oarlike body]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

oar•fish

(ˈɔrˌfɪʃ, ˈoʊr-)

n., pl. (esp. collectively) -fish, (esp. for kinds or species) -fish•es.

any long, ribbon-shaped, deep-sea fish of the genus Regalecus, having a fin along the back that rises to a crest: up to 30 ft. (9 m) long.

[1855–60]

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Noun

oarfish - thin deep-water tropical fish 20 to 30 feet long having a red dorsal fin

king of the herring, Regalecus glesne, ribbonfish

malacopterygian, soft-finned fish - any fish of the superorder Malacopterygii

genus Regalecus, Reglaecus - type genus of the Regalecidae

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References in periodicals archive ?

A 10.5-feet oarfish was spotted along the coast New Washington in Aklan, Monday morning.

Oarfish washed ashore in Aklan

The huge oarfish, which can each grow as long as much as 11 metres, come to the surface when a natural disaster is brewing, according to legend.

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Sightings of the rare oarfish in Japan have raised fear and speculation amongst the people of an incoming natural disaster, as the deep-water fish is believed to be a harbinger of earthquakes and tsunamis, the media reported on Saturday.

Rare fish sightings in Japan raise quake, tsunami fears

Recent oarfish strandings in California have generated enormous interest.

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LOS ANGELES, City, Sha'ban 17, 1436, Jun 4, 2015, SPA -- A dead oarfish, a mysterious and serpent-like creature that swims deep below the ocean's surface, has washed up on a Southern California island and a university biologist will study the remains, officials said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

Mysterious oarfish of the deep washes up on California island

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Oarfish, a twenty-seven-foot-tall soft sculpture representing the titular deep-sea creature, its silver silk body speckled with sumi-ink brushstrokes, presided over Paul Heyer's second solo exhibition at Night Gallery.

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13, the body of an 18-foot oarfish was dragged from the water onto Santa Catalina Island off the California coast, presenting a rare opportunity for local scientists to study one of the world's most elusive and awe-inspiring big fish.

Oarfish offer chance to study an animal long thought a monster

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