The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™

ISSN 2307-8235 (online)

IUCN 2008: T190378A115316206
Scope: Global
Language: English

Regalecus glesne, Oarfish

Errata version
Assessment by: Smith-Vaniz, W.F.

View on www.iucnredlist.org

Citation: Smith-Vaniz, W.F. 2015. Regalecus glesne. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015:
e.T190378A115316206. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T190378A21911480.en

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Taxonomy
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family

Animalia Chordata Actinopterygii Lampriformes Regalecidae

Taxon Name: Regalecus glesne Ascanius, 1772

Synonym(s):
• Cephalepis octomaculatus Rafinesque, 1810
• Cepola gladius Walbaum, 1792
• Gymnetrus ascanii Shaw, 1803
• Gymnetrus banksii Valenciennes, 1835
• Gymnetrus capensis Valenciennes, 1835
• Gymnetrus gladius Valenciennes, 1835
• Gymnetrus grillii Lindroth, 1798
• Gymnetrus hawkenii Bloch, 1795
• Gymnetrus longiradiatus Risso, 1820
• Gymnetrus telum Valenciennes, 1835
• Gymnetrus northumbricus Timbs 1850
• Regalecus jonesii Newman, 1860
• Regalecus masterii De Vis, 1892
• Regalecus pacificus Haast, 1878
• Regalecus remipes Brünnich, 1788
• Regalecus argenteus Parker, 1884
• Regalecus italicus Damiani 1913
• Xypterus imperati Rafinesque, 1810

Regional Assessments:
• Gulf of Mexico
• Mediterranean
• Europe

Common Name(s):
• English: Oarfish, Giant Oarfish, King of Herrings, King of The Herring, Oar-fish, Pacific Oarfish,
Ribbonfish, Ribbon-fish, Streamer Fish
• French: Regalec, Régalec, Roi des Harengs
• Spanish: Pez Remo, Rey de Los Arenques
Taxonomic Source(s):
Eschmeyer, W.N. and Fricke, R. (eds). 2015. Catalog of Fishes: genera, species, references. Updated 1
October 2015. Available at:
http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatmain.asp. (Accessed: 1
October 2015).

Assessment Information
Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern ver 3.1

Year Published: 2015

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Regalecus glesne – published in 2015. 1
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T190378A21911480.en
Date Assessed: May 7, 2013

Justification:
This epi-mesopelagic, deep-dwelling species is widely distributed and rarely recorded. There are no
known major threats, therefore it is assessed as Least Concern.

Geographic Range
Range Description:
Regalecus glesne is distributed circumglobally from 15-1,000 m depth in the epipelagic and mesopelagic
zones of tropical and temperate seas (JE Olney FAO ECA guide in prep, Heemstra and Heemstra 2004). In
the western Atlantic it is known from New England, Georges Bank, and Bear Seamount south to Cape
Hatteras, North Carolina, Bermuda, Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, and the western Caribbean (Moore et al.
2003, Schmitter-Soto 2008). It is also known from the Mediterranean Sea (Dragicevic et al. 2011) and off
Argentina in the Argentine Sea at Playa Unión beach, 43°18' S, 65°02' W (Ruiz and Gosztonyi 2010). It
also occurs in the South Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans.

Country Occurrence:
Native: Albania; Algeria; American Samoa (American Samoa, American Samoa); Angola (Angola);
Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Australia; Bahamas; Barbados; Benin; Bermuda; Brazil; British Indian
Ocean Territory; Cameroon; Canada; Cape Verde; Chile; Colombia; Comoros; Congo, The Democratic
Republic of the; Cook Islands; Costa Rica; Cuba; Cyprus; Denmark; Djibouti; Dominica; Dominican
Republic; Ecuador (Galápagos); Egypt; Equatorial Guinea; Fiji; France; French Guiana; French Polynesia;
Gabon; Gambia; Ghana; Greece; Greenland; Grenada; Guadeloupe; Guernsey; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau;
Guyana; Haiti; Iceland; India; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Ireland; Italy; Jersey; Kenya; Lebanon; Liberia;
Libya; Madagascar; Malta; Mauritania; Mauritius; Mexico; Monaco; Montserrat; Morocco; Mozambique;
Namibia; Netherlands; New Caledonia; New Zealand; Nigeria; Niue; Norfolk Island; Norway; Oman;
Pakistan; Panama; Papua New Guinea; Peru; Portugal (Azores, Madeira); Puerto Rico; Réunion; Saint
Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Martin (French part); Saint Pierre and Miquelon; Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines; Samoa; Sao Tomé and Principe; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Solomon Islands; Somalia; South
Africa; Spain (Canary Is.); Suriname; Syrian Arab Republic; Tanzania, United Republic of; Togo; Tokelau;
Tonga; Trinidad and Tobago; Tunisia; Turkey; Turks and Caicos Islands; Tuvalu; United Arab Emirates;
United States; Vanuatu; Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of; Virgin Islands, British; Wallis and Futuna;
Western Sahara; Yemen

FAO Marine Fishing Areas:

Native: Atlantic - northwest, Atlantic - eastern central, Atlantic - southwest, Atlantic - northeast, Atlantic
- western central, Atlantic - southeast, Indian Ocean - eastern, Indian Ocean - western, Mediterranean
and Black Sea - , Pacific - western central, Pacific - eastern central, Pacific - southwest, Pacific - southeast

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Regalecus glesne – published in 2015. 2
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T190378A21911480.en
Distribution Map
Regalecus glesne

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Regalecus glesne – published in 2015. 3
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T190378A21911480.en
Population
Regalecus glesne is a rarely occurring species (FAO ECA guide in press).
Current Population Trend: Unknown

Habitat and Ecology (see Appendix for additional information)

Regalecus glesne is a deep-sea fish with a maximum size of 1,700 cm (longest bony fish) that inhabits
the epipelagic and mesopelagic zone of the open ocean. Individuals are sighted near the surface or
stranded on the shore usually following storm events. It feeds on deepsea shrimps, small fishes,
planktonic crustaceans, and squids. Female brood size numbers in the millions. Eggs are 2.5 mm in
diameter, free-floating, large, and red. Data on the reproduction and habits of this species are limited
(FAO ECA guide in press, Heemstra and Heemstra 2004). A female specimen sampled off the coast of
Florida contained approximately 139,043 eggs of average diameter 2.57 mm (Saloman et al. 1974).

Systems: Marine

Use and Trade

Regalecus glesne is not utilized and the flesh is unpalatable (FAO ECA guide in prep., Heemstra and
Heemstra 2004).

Threats
There are no known major threats to Regalecus glesne.

Conservation Actions (see Appendix for additional information)

There are no species-specific conservation measures in place for this fish.

Credits
Assessor(s): Smith-Vaniz, W.F.

Reviewer(s): Cox, N.A.

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Regalecus glesne – published in 2015. 4
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T190378A21911480.en
Bibliography
IUCN. 2015. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2015-4. Available at: www.iucnredlist.org.
(Accessed: 19 November 2015).

IUCN. 2017. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2017-1. Available at: www.iucnredlist.org.

Citation
Smith-Vaniz, W.F. 2015. Regalecus glesne. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015:
e.T190378A115316206. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T190378A21911480.en

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To make use of this information, please check the Terms of Use.

External Resources
For Images and External Links to Additional Information, please see the Red List website.

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Regalecus glesne – published in 2015. 5
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T190378A21911480.en
 Appendix

Habitats
(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)

Major
Habitat Season Suitability
Importance?

10. Marine Oceanic -> 10.3. Marine Oceanic - Bathypelagic (1000-4000m) Resident Suitable Yes

10. Marine Oceanic -> 10.2. Marine Oceanic - Mesopelagic (200-1000m) Resident Suitable Yes

Conservation Actions in Place

(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)

Conservation Actions in Place

In-Place Land/Water Protection and Management

Conservation sites identified: No

Occur in at least one PA: Unknown

Additional Data Fields

Distribution
Lower depth limit (m): 1000

Upper depth limit (m): 15

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Regalecus glesne – published in 2015. 6
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T190378A21911480.en
Errata
Errata reason: This errata assessment has been created because the map was accidentally left out of
the version published previously.

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Regalecus glesne – published in 2015. 7
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T190378A21911480.en
The IUCN Red List Partnership

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ is produced and managed by the IUCN Global Species
Programme, the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and The IUCN Red List Partnership.

The IUCN Red List Partners are: Arizona State University; BirdLife International; Botanic Gardens
Conservation International; Conservation International; NatureServe; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew;
Sapienza University of Rome; Texas A&M University; and Zoological Society of London.

THE IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES™