Image: Man with Giant Oarfish
Roger Jansson  /  AP
In this undated photo released by the House of the Sea Aquarium in the city of Lysekila, Sweden, a 12-foot Giant Oarfish found off Sweden's west coast is displayed and measured.
updated 5/12/2010 4:42:53 PM ET 2010-05-12T20:42:53

First he thought it was a piece of plastic floating near the shoreline. When he got closer, 73-year-old Kurt Ove Eriksson realized the 12-foot serpent-like object was a rare creature from the depths of the ocean.

Marine biologists later determined Eriksson had found a Giant Oarfish — the world's largest bony fish — last seen in Swedish waters about 130 years ago.




Eriksson handed over the dead fish to The House of the Sea, an aquarium in the nearby town of Lysekil, where marine expert Roger Jansson said it's being kept pending a decision on what to do with it.

Jansson said the Giant Oarfish can grow up to 36 feet, and is believed to live in deep waters. He said the last recorded discovery in Sweden was in 1879.

Sightings of the fish are believed to have inspired tales of sea serpents.



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