A rarely-seen deep-sea creature, famously dubbed the ‘doomsday fish,’ has been caught off the coast of Melville Island, part of the Tiwi Islands, approximately 80 kilometres from Darwin. This extraordinary oarfish was captured during a late-night fishing trip by Skipper Curtis Peterson of Tiwi Islands Adventures and quickly gained attention after being shared on Fishing Australia TV’s Facebook page earlier this week.
The oarfish, scientifically classified as Regalecus glesne, can reach an astounding nine meters in length and is often mistaken for mythical sea serpents when it surfaces. These creatures inhabit great depths of the ocean, sometimes plunging to nearly 1,000 meters, making encounters with them exceedingly rare. More often, they are found washed ashore, typically deceased.
Recognizable by their slender, ribbon-like silver bodies, oarfish are peaceful filter-feeders, mainly subsisting on krill and small crustaceans. Despite their passive nature, their unusual, snake-like form has sparked sea monster legends across multiple cultures. The moniker ‘doomsday fish’ stems from centuries-old folklore, particularly in Japan, where the appearance of oarfish is believed to foreshadow natural disasters, such as earthquakes or tsunamis. Seen as omens of calamity, these mysterious creatures have long been regarded as messengers of impending danger. According to the Florida Museum of Natural History, their striking appearance has fed into ancient tales of sea monsters and cemented their reputation as harbingers of disaster.
