Interesting facts about the herring king (8 photos)

The Oarfish is a rare deep-sea fish that is considered a harbinger of trouble.





Would you dare touch the doomsday fish?

They call it the doomsday fish. Not because of its particularly strong poison, sharp teeth, or bloodthirsty nature. It just... appears. Silently, for no apparent reason, as if woven from light and fear, it emerges from the darkest depths of the ocean - and the whole world freezes before the approaching threat. People believe that this is not just a fish, but a herald of disasters and a prophet of horror. They believe that it foretells the strongest tsunamis, floods, earthquakes and the death of millions of people. Meet the herring king.

The herring king, or oarfish — one look at this sea monster is enough to believe in all the legends and myths. The giant grows to a record 11 meters in length — like a 4-story house! No wonder they call it the king — it is the longest bony fish in the world! The sparkling silver monster cuts through the underwater darkness like the sharpest blade. With a flat, scaleless body, long blood-red fins and a flaming crest on its back.



The fish that dad caught, according to dad's stories.

By the way, the herring king is not related to any herrings. They just met him a couple of times near schools of this fish and decided that he was the most important one among them. In fact, the oarfish belongs to the order of opahobraznye.





I tell you, the weather this week will be so-so.

The monarch lives in the so-called twilight zone of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, that is, at a depth of 200 to 1000 meters. Here they rule over eternal twilight, cold, hunger and pressure, which is tens of times higher than what we are used to. In order to survive, the ocellated whale had to give up the usual way of moving for fish.



A curtsey to his majesty.

The herring king does not swim. The oarfish spends its entire life with a truly royal posture - snout up, tail down. They, in fact, cannot control their movement - their fins are too small to move such a huge carcass. The fish can only stabilize themselves in the water with them.



This guy listened to his mother and sat with his back straight at the computer. And look where he is now. The king!

The herring king is absolutely helpless against the elements. Storms, changing currents, diseases - will push the giant to the surface. Therefore, it is not surprising that many coastal peoples have beliefs that herring kings foretell misfortune. The body of a sea giant thrown ashore makes an indelible impression. But is there a real connection between fish and cataclysms? Scientists have conducted research on this topic. As expected, it turned out that herring kings are in no way connected with bad weather, these are just coincidences - nothing more. Fish are thrown out during cataclysms, not before them. They do not foretell bad weather, but unwittingly become its victims. And then people come up with cause-and-effect relationships where there are none.



By the way, the meat of the beltfish is absolutely inedible. It is described as tasting like paper. Even dogs refuse the meat of the herring king!

In fact, the kings do not care about ordinary people. They nobly soar in the twilight zone and do not even bother to catch prey. On the one hand, because it is not a royal business to go for food themselves. And on the other, they are simply not capable of active hunting. All they can do is hang in the water as unnoticed as possible, filter krill and wait for something bigger and tastier to swim by.



To grab prey without moving, the herring king has a retractable mouth like this.

It's interesting how they even find each other in the semi-darkness and with such useless fins. They are not capable of purposefully swimming somewhere and gathering in large schools for the sake of reproduction. But recently it became known that the skin of the fish contains photophores - special cells with which the kings change the intensity of their color. Apparently, this plays a role in communication within the species and helps find a partner.



Great photo for a dating site, Mr. Herring King!

Well, after that, the monarchs most likely don't bother much. No one held a candle, but it's logical to assume that if they can't really take care of themselves, then there's nothing to talk about parental care for their offspring. They spawn and forget about it. The fry hatch in 3-4 weeks and look like miniature adults. A quarter of a century of royal life awaits them. Yes, despite their helplessness and absolute inertia, the average lifespan of a belt-tailed leopard is 25 years!