Dragon fish causes a stir
MIRI: The public is urged not to panic after seeing a viral picture of man, believed to be a fisherman from Bakam, holding a ‘disaster fish’ which is alleged to signal the coming of an earthquake.
According to head of the Department of Fisheries Malaysia here, Buniamin Kiprawi, fish would not bring about any disaster.
“If fish, molluscs or crustaceans are suddenly found in large numbers or if ‘live’ fish are suddenly found stranded in large numbers in a certain place the phenomenon could be due to the sudden change in the environment.
“Based on the picture (of the man with the fish) and explained by our senior research officer, Jamil Musel, the fish’s scientific name is Regalecus Glesne (king herrings) which locals call ‘ikan naga’ (dragon fish),” Buniamin said when contacted yesterday.
The 2.8kg dragon fish was found trapped in a fisherman’s trawlers yesterday and has gained a lot of attention as it is rarely seen on the surface. It lives at great depth of about 1,000 meters.
“The fish might have swum to shallow waters. We need to know whether it was a big boat or a ‘sampan’ that was used by the fisherman to catch the fish,” he said.
The fish is the longest known living species of bony fish that could reach a length of 17 metres and weigh up to 270kg.
Also known as Oarfish, it is found in all tropical and temperate waters around the world, and it can be identified by its metallic silver with blotches and wavy markings on the body and pink or red fins.
This species has a concave head and a highly protrusible mouth. Its dorsal fin runs the entire length of the body.
In Japan, the fish is long featured in the local folklore and according to belief, if many of the fish are washed ashore, it may signal the coming of an earthquake.