Menu

Norwegian records

Norwegian record King of herrings

No official record yet

King of herrings (Regalecus glesne). Norsk: Sildekonge.

No official record yet

Villmarksliv's official list of Norwegian sport-fishing records has no record for King of herrings yet. The first registered fish that meets the rules becomes the record.

About King of herrings

King of herrings

Jan Fekjan · speilvendt (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The king of herrings, or giant oarfish (Regalecus glesne), is the longest bony fish in the world. It is usually around 3 m long but can exceed 8 m and weigh well over 200 kg. Its ribbon-like body is flattened and silvery. A bright red dorsal fin stretches from head to tail, and its front rays form a crest above the head, while the pelvic fins are reduced to long, oar-like filaments. It lives in open oceans worldwide, mostly between about 20 and 1,000 m, and often swims upright by rippling its dorsal fin. It feeds on krill, other small crustaceans and small squid. The species was first described from two fish found at Glesvær near Bergen, which gave it the name glesne, and the Norwegian name reflects an old belief that it led herring shoals. In Norway it turns up only as stranded or dying fish. IUCN: Least Concern (LC). Norwegian Red List 2021: Not Applicable (NA).

Sources: Artsdatabanken, Store norske leksikon, Wikipedia, marinebio.org

  • Habitat: Saltvann

See the species guide

Biggest King of herrings in FishComp

Caught a King of herrings? Log it in FishComp.

Log your catch

How to register a Norwegian record

  1. Norwegian sport-fishing records are registered with Villmarksliv, not with FishComp. Read the rules before you do anything else with the fish.
  2. Records are based on weight and approved by a jury. You give the weight and length, where it was caught, the gear you used and any witnesses.
  3. Keep your photos and notes from the catch. Logging it in FishComp does not register a record.

Source: Villmarksliv's official Norwegian records (klikk.no).