Re: how do oarfish reproduce?

Hi Zelenna:

Oarfish are a very common fish, found throughout the world ocean.



Oarfish are oviparous, which means that when they spawn, eggs and sperm are released directly into the water column, and fertilization occurs there, outside of the body of the fish. After fertilization, the eggs develop in the surface waters, and hatch into larvae (and the larvae, if they aren't eaten will eventually grow into adult oarfish).
In spite of being very common, oarfish aren't usually found close to shore, and are not commercially fished for. That means that there is not a lot of information available about them. I did some searching, but I couldn't find any observations of any special spawning behaviours.

Most of this information comes from fishbase, you can view their information on oarfish here.

Hope that helps!
Rob Campbell, MAD Scientist