The doomsday fish got its name because it looks like a mythical sea creature, with a long, ribbon-shaped body that can grow up to 30 feet.

Considered to be the origin of the sea serpent tale, giant oarfish are a species yet to be largely researched by scientists.

A rare deep sea fish, regarded as a harbinger of doom, has washed up on a southern California shore. The Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, said one of its PhD students discovered an oarfish on a beach in Encinitas last week that was around nine to ten feet long.