Head to head
Tube-eye vs Oarfish
Tube-eye
VS Oarfish
The tube-eye and oarfish belong to the same broader lineage, but they could hardly look or feed more differently from one another.
| Tube-eye | Oarfish | |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Stylephorus chordatus | Regalecus glesne |
| Feeding method | Expands its mouth into a suction bubble to draw in prey | Strains plankton from the water with fine gill rakers |
| Eyes | Tubular eyes fixed permanently upward | Normal eyes, not fixed in one direction |
| Body shape | Small and delicate, with a long thread-like tail | Extremely long, ribbon-like body up to about 8 metres |
| Swimming style | Weak, drifting swimmer | Swims vertically, head-up, undulating a long dorsal fin |
| Notable folklore | Not linked to any documented folklore | Linked to Japanese earthquake folklore and sea-serpent legends |
| Conservation status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Habitat | Ocean | Ocean |
Tube-eye vs Oarfish: common questions
How are the tube-eye and oarfish related?
The tube-eye belongs to the same broader order as the oarfish, one of the ocean's longest bony fish, despite the two species looking very different from one another in size and shape.
Which one has fixed, upward-pointing eyes?
The tube-eye is the one with fixed, upward-pointing tubular eyes, used to spot the silhouettes of small prey against faint light from above, a feature the oarfish does not share.
Which one is linked to sea-serpent legends?
The oarfish is the one linked to sea-serpent legends, its enormous silver, ribbon-like body and crest of red fin rays widely considered the likely real animal behind many historical sea-serpent sightings.