Often mistaken as a sea monster, the oarfish (Regalecus glesno) is really a gentle creature that doesn’t even bite, feeding instead by slurping up little animals with its small mouth. But it isn’t hard to understand how the oarfish might be mistaken for a sea serpent. The narrow fish – about as wide as a ribbon – is a silverfish color, has what appears to be a bright crimson mane (which is actually its dorsal fin), with trailing pectoral fins that give it its name. It grows up to 50 feet long. Weaving through the surface water, it could easily be mistaken for a sea serpent from a distance. The oarfish, which doesn’t ever use its oar-like pectoral fins, really spends more time trying to evade pursuers than chasing prey like any self respecting sea serpent. One unique trick it has for escaping sharks and other true monsters is worth mentioning. It seems to let predators bite off sections of its mane-like tail or dorsal fin, and escapes while its enemy is chewing on it. This may or may not be an intentional defense mechanism, but the shorter oarfish seems to function just as well as when it was a few feet longer!