Photo: 18-foot-long, Serpent-like fish Found In Southern California coast

This is the 18-foot-long oarfish found dead in the water off Catalina Island near Los Angeles. The picture, released by the Catalina Island Marine Institute and taken on Sunday October 13 shows the crew of sailing school vessel Tole Mour and Catalina Island Marine Institute instructors holding the giant fish found in the waters off Toyon Bay on Santa Catalina Island, California. Oarfish dive 3000 feet deep.
Jasmine Santana of the Catalina Island Marine Institute needed more than 15 helpers to drag the giant sea creature with eyes the size of half dollars to shore on Sunday.
According to CIMI:

'We've never seen a fish this big,' said Mark Waddington, senior captain of the Tole Mour, CIMI's sail training ship. 'The last oarfish we saw was three feet long.' Because oarfish dive more than 3,000 feet deep, sightings of the creatures are rare and they are largely unstudied.

The giant oarfish was first discovered in 1772 by Norwegian biologist Peter Ascanius. It's formal scientific title is Regalecus glesne, but the fish is also known as king of the herring, Pacific oarfish, streamer fish and ribbon-fish. The longest recorded specimen clocked in at 26 feet, however, the species is believed to grow as long as 50 feet and weigh as much as 600 pounds.

Like the equally mysterious giant squid, the oarfish would go on to enchant fisherman and sailors and inspire stories of sea monsters. The fish lives at extreme ocean depths, between 656 feet (0.2 kilometers) and 3,280 feet (1 kilometer) deep. In 1996, a group of Navy Seals found a 23-foot long oarfish off Coronado, near San Diego, California.

In 1996, Navy Seals pulled ashore this 23-foot oarfish that was found off the coast near San Diego, California