On August 10, 2024, a team of marine scientists discovered a 12-foot-long specimen of the short-tailed rudderfish (Regalecus russellii), also known as the “Doomsday fish,” in the waters off San Diego, California. This deep-sea dwelling fish is one of the marine creatures least often seen by humans. According to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, this is only the 20th anglerfish found in California since 1901.
The connection between rowfish and earthquakes in pop culture
In Japanese culture, the oarfish is often associated with natural disasters, especially earthquakes. This popular belief states that the appearance of this rare fish could be an omen of impending disasters. However, there is no scientific evidence to confirm this connection. A 2019 study published in Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America published, shows that there is no concrete connection between anglerfish sightings and the occurrence of earthquakes. Just two days after the anglerfish was discovered, on August 12, 2024, a 4.4 magnitude earthquake shook the city of Los Angeles. Despite the proximity in time between the two events, experts believe that there is no causal connection between the appearance of the fish and the earthquake. Zachary Heiple, a doctoral student at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography who was involved in the anglerfish recovery, stressed that the correlation between these events is purely coincidental and not supported by scientific data.
The recovery of fish and its scientific analysis
After spotting the fish, the team of scientists managed to bring it to shore using a paddleboard. The fish was then transported to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) facility, where it was necropsied to collect DNA samples and other biological information. Scientists hope that this data will provide new insights into the evolution of deep-sea fish and why the oarfish has developed such a distinctive morphology.