Animals Tumblr Themes

Photo Post Fri, Jun. 15, 2012 57 notes

saritaroo: Marcus Elieser Bloch, from Ichtylogie, ou Histoire naturelle, génerale et particuliére des poissons, 1797. This is what is now called Regalecus glesne - the oarfish or less commonly, king-of-the-herrings.  Only the artist must not have ad a complete fish to work with or been drawing from a description, although the colors are accurate.  Here’s what they actually look like.  The thing that always strikes me as funny about them, besides their gigantic mouths, is their tiny caudal fins, which tip up at about a 45° angle.  They actually use their dorsal fins for propulsion as they hang vertically in the water, tail down. They always seem to shock people because of how big they are.  Some coworkers of mine found one dying near Catalina Island; I have some photos of it here.

saritaroo:

Marcus Elieser Bloch, from Ichtylogie, ou Histoire naturelle, génerale et particuliére des poissons, 1797.

This is what is now called Regalecus glesne - the oarfish or less commonly, king-of-the-herrings.  Only the artist must not have ad a complete fish to work with or been drawing from a description, although the colors are accurate.  Here’s what they actually look like.  The thing that always strikes me as funny about them, besides their gigantic mouths, is their tiny caudal fins, which tip up at about a 45° angle.  They actually use their dorsal fins for propulsion as they hang vertically in the water, tail down.

They always seem to shock people because of how big they are.  Some coworkers of mine found one dying near Catalina Island; I have some photos of it here.

(via scientificillustration)

#oarfish#fish#marine biology#marine life#art#scientific illustration
»Reblog«



Photo Post Fri, Dec. 30, 2011 98 notes

mad-as-a-marine-biologist: animaliagiantkingdom: King of herrings (Regalecus glesne) Chordata > Actinopterygii > Lampriformes > Regalecidae > Regalecus  Poor thing, trapped in a net, though the chances of that happening to you are notably greater when you are the longest fish in the world! The King of Herrings, an oarfish, completely unrelated to actual herrings, has been documented to reach a whopping 17m! Rarely sighted, it hangs out in all the world’s oceans in the “twilight zone” a.k.a. mesopelagic zone (300-1000m), and is thought to be responsible for some sea serpent sightings! Um, I don’t see a net there.  I see its elongated pelvic fins and its long head spines, which are actually part of its dorsal fin.  This is actually its normal position in the water column - head up, tail down, and it moves itself around with undulations of its dorsal fin, which you can see in the above photo and a little more in this video: Not real clear, but you can see it’s position.

mad-as-a-marine-biologist:

animaliagiantkingdom:

King of herrings (Regalecus glesne)

Chordata > Actinopterygii > Lampriformes > Regalecidae > Regalecus

 Poor thing, trapped in a net, though the chances of that happening to you are notably greater when you are the longest fish in the world!

The King of Herrings, an oarfish, completely unrelated to actual herrings, has been documented to reach a whopping 17m!

Rarely sighted, it hangs out in all the world’s oceans in the “twilight zone” a.k.a. mesopelagic zone (300-1000m), and is thought to be responsible for some sea serpent sightings!

Um, I don’t see a net there.  I see its elongated pelvic fins and its long head spines, which are actually part of its dorsal fin.  This is actually its normal position in the water column - head up, tail down, and it moves itself around with undulations of its dorsal fin, which you can see in the above photo and a little more in this video:

Not real clear, but you can see it’s position.

(via mad-as-a-marine-biologist)

#fish#oarfish
»Reblog«


1/1