It’s hard to imagine a life without a jaw—we need one to eat and interact with one another through speech. Yet like every other part in our body, it didn’t always exist back in life’s evolutionary history.
Strange as it may seem, these fishes thrived in the waters of this planet over 450 million years ago. They were common animals, with fossils of these peculiar creatures having been unearthed since the 1830s. Even with their limited knowledge of the deep time, the era’s scientists noticed that these fishes clearly looked like no other living animal they knew.
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Oarfish are large, greatly elongated fish found in all temperate to tropical oceans, yet rarely seen. There are four species of oarfish, the largest of which (Regalecus glesne) is the longest bony fish in the world, growing up to 36 feet in length.
Rare encounters with divers and accidental catches have supplied what little is known of oarfish behaviour and ecology. Giant oarfish are most often encountered washed ashore, already dead.
