Oarfish are large, greatly elongated,
pelagic lampriform fish belonging to the small
family Regalecidae. Found in all
temperate to tropical oceans yet rarely seen, the oarfish family contains four
species in two
genera. One of these, the
giant oarfish (
Regalecus glesne), is the longest
bony fish alive, growing to up to in length. That is not enough to qualify as the longest fish, however, as some of the cartilaginous fish such as the
basking shark and
whale shark are even longer.