Kayakers captures video of elusive oarfish

BAJA, Mexico, April 8 (UPI) -- Oarfish, a long eel-like fish, or lamprid, populate temperate to tropical oceans but are rarely seen, preferring to stick to the deeper, murkier depths -- between 650 and 3,000 feet.

But two kayakers paddling through the coastal waters of Baja, Mexico, happened upon two oarfish swimming in the crystal clear shallows of the Sea of Cortés. Luckily, they had their camera ready.

A member of the Regalecidae family, oarfish maintain their long, slender shape by snacking mainly on tiny zooplankton, shrimp and other crustaceans. They will also gobble up small squid and fish. And though oarfish are rather large, they are of limited commercial value, as their jelly-like meat is filled with hundreds of tiny bones.

Typically, oarfish are only seen when they was ashore dead or drift into the shallows due to sickness or injury.

[Smithsonian] [Discovery News]