A deep-sea oarfish (Regalecus glesne) was recently caught in the Andaman Sea, off Thailand’s southernmost province of Satun, according to Dr. Thon Thamrongnawasawat, vice dean of the Fisheries Faculty at Kasetsart University.
In his Facebook post today, Thon said it is not known for sure exactly where the 5-metre-long fish was caught, but it was either between Libong and Adang islands or near Rok Island. The deepest part of the Andaman Sea in Thai territory is about 2,000 metres, where oarfish can be found.
He assumed that the young oarfish was washed into Thai waters by a cold water mass, adding that it is not certain that this is the first oarfish ever caught in Thailand, because the country does not have deep-sea fishing vessels.
He also dismissed some suggestions that the discovery of the oarfish might be a sign of an upcoming undersea earthquake, saying that oarfish can be found in deep-sea waters anywhere, except in the polar regions, but it is hardly seen or caught because it lives in very deep waters.
The specimen caught in the seas off Satun is a young fish. The largest ever caught, according to the Guinness Book of Records, was about 11 metres long.