Giant oarfish relative surfaces in Sri Lankan waters in a first for the

A confirmed first record of the oarfish Regalecus russellii for Sri Lanka has been documented after a specimen surfaced in the island nation’s waters. The fish, measuring 2,580 millimeters in total length, was caught on 27 October 2021 by a surface tuna gillnet operated from a multi-day fishing boat in Sri Lanka’s western coastal area. It was landed at the Beruwala Fishery Harbor, preserved in 5% formaldehyde, and deposited in the National Faunal Repository at the Colombo National Museum. The find provides the first detailed morphological description of R. russellii in Sri Lankan waters and helps clarify distribution in the tropical Indian Ocean.