Oarfish

"I caught an oarfish! Good, I needed a paddle!" —New Leaf

"I caught an oarfish! I hope I catch morefish!" —New Horizons

Oarfish
Image gallery
Real-world info
Name: Regalecidae Family: Regalecidae
Main appearances
DnM DnM+ AC DnMe+ iQue WW CF NL NH
Other appearances
Film HHD aF PC
Names in other languages  Unknown  Unknown  Unknown  Unknown  Unknown  Unknown  Unknown  Unknown  Unknown  Unknown  Unknown  Unknown

The Oarfish (リュウグウノツカイ, Ryūgūnotsukai) is a fish that can be found in the ocean between December and May. It first appeared in Animal Crossing: New Leaf and can be sold for 9000 Bells.

Donating to the museum

In New Leaf

The information board in front of the tank that holds the Oarfish says the following:

"Oarfish are deep-sea dwelling fish with long, thin, silver bodies and one red fin lining their backs. They can reach lengths of over 10 yards (9 meters), making them huge and striking fish. They usually swim by twisting their long, thin bodies, but they can also swim in more vertical positions. Their mouths are small compared to their bodies and they have no teeth, so they're large but not imposing."

In New Horizons

When donating the Oarfish to Blathers at the museum he says the following:

The oarfish is a long, eel-like fish that can supposedly reach up to 36 feet in length. They appear in various legends as things like messengers of the gods. It seems to me a creature like that could explain the myth of massive, ship-crushing sea serpents. It is, of course, well documented that people tend to exaggerate the size of "the one that got away".

When donated, the Oarfish can be found in the north-eastern-most room of the fish exhibit, in the "deep sea" tank which is near the submersible and diving suit. It shares this tank with the Barreleye, Coelacanth, and Football Fish.

Fishing Tourney

New Leaf

Chip will say this when given an Oarfish:

"Ooh, I hear bad things about oarfish. People say they're too oily. Nope, not very tasty at all! Bad news! So yeah, I guess I'd better not eat it. I mean, it DOES make sense. Oars are for paddlin', not eatin'!"

Further information

Oarfish are most probably the origin of the sea serpent mythology. The king of herrings species has a published length of 11 meters (36 ft), with smaller members of the family ranging from 4.6 m (15 ft) up. Due to the consistency of their skin, oarfish rarely are caught alive.