Deep sea fish captured alive

This deep-sea dwelling oarfish was captured alive off the coast of Japan.

It’s 2.2 meters long and weighs 12.4 kilograms.

Locals call it “The phantom of the deep.”

The oarfish was caught in a fishing net and taken alive to an aquarium.

It died soon after.

This is the 9th oarfish caught this fiscal year in Toyama Bay.

[ingridcld]

Looks very sick. They probably caught one that was going into shallow waters to die. They're supposed to live in the very deep ocean.

[sagitariniidaayu]

"It died soon after"
Well that escalated quickly

[OblivionWonderlust]

The voice acting makes this sound like it’s a meme.

[rizavixen]

This fish was attaining ascension. Quite literally.

[memefactor]

They live in the deep waters. And they sleep vertically.

[kunaiwithchain]

This commentator gives me ‘Burger King foot lettuce’ vibes

[mathughsyoutubeworld]

Japan the country that showed kids the oarfish’s last part of its life cycle in an aquarium.

[Deckinickinic]

I also heard they grow MASSIVE, that one still looks young.

[jwaugh]

Oarfish: just let me die already!!!
Fish netters: no...

[coolgoyim]

This oars goes above their typical environment to die, so I don’t think it’s really cruel to just put them in an aquarium for kids to see something that they would rarely see personally, well sadly if kids are still not allowed to enter zoos due to covid

[laynewyman]

An Oarfish can survive in an aquarium but it needs a ridiculously deep tank or one that can exert artificial water pressure. I think only Ocean Voyager in Georgia Aquarium or the main tank in the Osaka Aquarium are large enough to possibly house an adult Oarfish

[xjmmjbnqfstjdijoj]

In Japanese this fish is called リュウグウノツカイ(竜宮の使い) / Ryūgūnotsukai which doesn't translate as the phantom of the deep, but rather as "The messenger of the dragon palace"

[StinkySeaGoat]

Oarfish come to the surface due to underwater seismic activity that normally stirs their homes up with all sorts of unwanted debris, which is why many societies see oarfish as omens of Trouble and danger since when they surface, earthquakes or Tsunamis are not far off. It’s theorized that Oarfish have been the source of Sea serpent Legends and Sea dragon Legends as Oarfish can grow up to 60ft in length if left alone in the depths of the ocean. Juveniles and baby oarfish have been seen swimming towards the surface as they don’t have the best sense of Direction or location and will often times get caught in nets, it’s not unlikely that this one was a lost Juvenal

[botolaqua]

in Indonesia we believe that if the fish come to the surface there will be a terrible tsunami

[TheHorreK]

"Deep sea fish" puts it in knee deep water

[stickmanblubbles]

Oarfish regularly ascend towards the surface at night. Given that it was caught in a net, I'm guessing this was out in the open ocean too, so I'd wager it was healthy when caught, not sick and dying like everyone is suggesting.

[xIsamuTM]

"I caught an oarfish! I hope I catch morefish!"

[GretchenDupree]

Just because the fish lives in deep water doesnt mean hes not outgoing.

[RDD]

Everyone talking about them coming to surface to die. Um, this is a very young specimen. Also, they cast nets pretty deep these days but these fish have also been known to come to surface at night around boats and so can be completely healthy when captured.

[musculussphincter]

Fun fact:
In Russia, we call this fish « The Herring King»