What happened in California in 2013?

A snorkeler found a dead oarfish about 5 m long

An oarfish was caught on a hook in a lake

Oarfish Quiz: The Longest Bony Fish and Earthquake Myths

This oarfish quiz meets the silver ribbon of the deep ocean. Play 10 interactive questions on the longest bony fish, lengths up to about 8 m, a red fin crest along its back, swimming upright, a rarely seen deep-water life, sea serpent legends, Japanese folklore linking strandings to earthquakes, a study that found no link and a famous 2013 beach find in California.

Start Oarfish Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Record
What record does the oarfish hold?
Length
About how long can oarfish grow?
Shape
What does an oarfish look like?
Fin
What runs along its back?
Swim
How have oarfish been seen swimming?
Home
Where do oarfish usually live?
Legend
Which legends may oarfish have inspired?
Japan
What do some Japanese folk beliefs link oarfish to?
Study
What did a 2019 study find about the earthquake myth?
Find
What happened in California in 2013?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: What record does the oarfish hold?
Answer: Longest bony fish
Sharks are not bony fish.
Q2: About how long can oarfish grow?
Answer: About 8 m
Some reports claim more.
Q3: What does an oarfish look like?
Answer: A long silver ribbon
Its body is very thin.
Q4: What runs along its back?
Answer: A red fin crest
It ripples to swim.
Q5: How have oarfish been seen swimming?
Answer: Upright in the water
Fins ripple along the body.
Q6: Where do oarfish usually live?
Answer: In deep open ocean
They are rarely seen alive.
Q7: Which legends may oarfish have inspired?
Answer: Sea serpents
Their size impressed sailors.
Q8: What do some Japanese folk beliefs link oarfish to?
Answer: Earthquakes
Strandings were seen as warnings.
Q9: What did a 2019 study find about the earthquake myth?
Answer: No clear link
Researchers checked records.
Q10: What happened in California in 2013?
Answer: A snorkeler found a dead oarfish about 5 m long
It took many people to pull ashore.

The Silver Ribbon of the Deep

The oarfish is the longest bony fish, growing to about 8 m, with some reports claiming more. Its body is a thin silver ribbon, and a red fin crest runs along its back. It lives in deep open ocean and is rarely seen alive.

Oarfish have been filmed swimming upright, rippling their back fin to move. Their great length likely inspired sea serpent legends among sailors. In 2013 a snorkeler off California found a dead oarfish about 5 m long, and it took many people to pull it ashore.

In Japanese folk belief, oarfish washing ashore were seen as warnings of earthquakes. A 2019 study compared records of strandings and earthquakes and found no clear link, though the legend remains popular.

What This Quiz Teaches

Ocean fans will enjoy these questions.

How long oarfish grow
What they look like
Where they live
Which legends they inspired
What science says about quakes

Did You Know?

Their name may come from oar-like fins.
Dead oarfish sometimes wash up after storms.
They eat tiny plankton.
Their scales are absent.
Divers rarely meet them.