Deep sea 'oarfish' discovered in Satun province

Even though a lecturer at Kasetsart University’s Fisheries Faculty confirmed that this piscine creature was found commonly worldwide, some Thai people would be surprise with this discovery.

Thon said this fish has been caught by a fishing boat in the Andaman Sea. "Thai people are not familiar with oarfish because they do not catch deep-sea fish," he said.

Oarfish and sunfish are assumed to appear in Thailand due to the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), an irregular oscillation of sea surface temperatures in which the western Indian Ocean becomes alternately warmer and then colder than the eastern part of the ocean.

"Oceans have strange phenomena over time, but if we have enough information, we can have an explanation for them," he said, adding that researchers had taken this oarfish for study.

Thon also urged people not to panic, saying it had nothing to do with an earthquake.

Oarfish are large, greatly elongated, pelagic lampriform fish which can be found in areas spanning from temperate ocean zones to tropical ones.

Its family consists of three species. The giant oarfish is the longest bony fish alive, growing up to 11 metres in length. This is the reason why this piscine creature is dubbed "naga fish" among Thais.

Oarfish feeds on planktons, small shrimps and crabs. Its behaviour is hardly seen because it lives 50-1,000 metres under the sea.

However, there is a belief among Japanese people that oarfish is a messenger from the sea god to warn them that a disaster is coming.