Giant oarfish could grow up to eight or nine metres, he said, but because they lived 200 to 1,500 metres below the surface, they were rarely seen. \u201cThey only ever show up at the surface when they\u2019re sick or dying,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In Japanese folklore, oarfish were known as ry\u016bg\u016b-no-tsukai, which translated to \u201cthe sea god\u2019s palace messenger\u201d, Brown said, and their arrival was thought to herald calamity, such as an earthquake or a tsunami.<\/p>\n
But they were an unreliable harbinger of doom, according to one study, which found no link between sightings of these slender sea creatures and imminent disaster.<\/p>\n
\u201cOarfish just rock up at random,\u201d Brown said. \u201cWe don\u2019t know very much about them. So any specimen that washes up is really valuable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oarfish were also connected to myths about sea serpents, said David Waldron, an associate professor and historian at Federation University.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they come to the surface, which is when sailors in the 19th and 18th century would see them, it would be when they\u2019re ill and thrashing about and not able to maintain their normal depth underwater.\u201d<\/p>\n
One Australian newspaper even reported the discovery of \u201ca supposed sea serpent\u201d at Penguin, Tasmania in 1878, with an engraving of the \u201cmystic creature\u201d looking very much like an oarfish.<\/p>\n
Enormous, brightly coloured, distinctive, and extremely rare, their legendary appeal was similar to other creatures from the deep \u2013 like the giant squid, they were fascinating and mysterious, Waldron said. \u201cIt\u2019s a very spectacular looking fish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Was this one a harbinger of doom? Cheesman didn\u2019t think so. \u201cIt was too nice a day for that.\u201d<\/p>\n