Strap-fish, or oarfish - mystery of nature

If you hold a beauty contest among the inhabitants of the deep sea, the crown, probably would have got the herring king. The second title - belt-fish. It belongs to the family Zestaponi. The lucky ones who was able to see the fish, not so much.

Belt-fish: General description

Appearance the herring king is truly fascinating. No wonder it is considered the most beautiful of sea dwellers. In length the fish can reach up to seventeen meters, but most often there are instances of three and a half meters to five. The belt fish is the longest bony fish, it is listed in the Guinness book of records. With such a big “growth” body width may not exceed seven inches. For this herring king was given the name fish-belt (photo presented in the article). Fish body covered with bright-silvery scales on it scattered dark spots and stripes. Besides, fish don't have swim bladder. The head is dark blue. But the main decoration of the herring king is his fiery red mane, which develops during the voyage like train. For her fish and received the title of king. This is the mane is the dorsal fin, which consists of separate red rays. The side fins are equally beautiful – crimson. Their fins fish waves like oars. But the ichthyologist D. Olney thinks the fins are the senses of taste. But not only from his fellow strap-fish differs in appearance, manner swim also unlike the others. Fish-swim belt... vertically! Yes, that's right – head up. The king feeds on plankton and small crustaceans. The fishermen met him in shoals of herring (which is also reflected in the name of the fish), so maybe a medium-sized herring is included in the “Royal” diet.

Habitat

Haunted by a belt-fish in the warm waters of Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Occasionally sails to the shores of Europe, due to world warming. But the meat of the fish is inedible, it does not even eat animals. But some gourmets with this assertion. On the contrary, they believe the herring king is very tasty, and I attribute it to the food, the main thing is to cook.

Secrets of the herring king

Fish-strap are still very little studied, scientists still don't know anything about the life of this animal. All that managed to learn with laboratory studies of the bodies of the fish, not much added to the Bank of punishment. The size of caught specimens, as a rule, does not exceed six meters, but the sailors who observed the herring king in the wild, say they saw giant – up to twenty meters. How many living fish, is still unknown.

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Certificates

The First information about the herring the king found in the records of ancient times. They tell of a sea monster or serpent, emerges from the depths of the sea. Called it the Great sea serpent. The people were so amazed by the appearance of unknown creatures, described him as a monster with the head of a bull or horse with fiery red mane. Sailors believed a meeting with the sea serpent promised nothing good. Oarfish became a legend, which subsequently hunted estestvoznanii.

Other meetings with the herring king

In 1771 Morton Brunnich (Danish naturalist) was the first to describe the fish-belt, whose body was washed up on the Norwegian coast. Since the documentary was recorded not more than twenty-five meetings with this amazing fish. In 1906 marine biologist Word Jones watched the herring king in vivo. He wrote in his work “Fish of the Indo-Australian archipelago” that the belt-fish swam up to the bow of the ship very close. her Body was very long and the sun shone on the silvery scales. Near the head adorned with a red plume, and dorsal fins glowed a rich pink color. The fishermen threw into the water with bait, but fish for her did not react. Swim some more near the ship, oarfish disappeared into the abyss of the ocean. But, perhaps, longer all watched "sea serpent" of the naturalist holder. Near Islands-Catalina, fish-belt (California, Bay avalon) swam in the shallows, splashing in the sandy shallows. It was noticed by a scientist and long time watching the sea handsome. But in 1963 the body of the herring king, beached near the village of Malibu, has caused quite a stir. The California resident walking her dog along the seashore, came across a monster. This meeting so impressed the woman that her scream of utter horror woke almost all the inhabitants of the coastal strip. In the Windows of houses began to light up the light, and after half an hour all the inhabitants of the small town knew about the extraordinary find. The police arrived on the scene, after seeing chose to call the experts. Now the found instance is in the natural history Museum of Los Angeles.