Rare oarfish, seen as harbingers of doom, snagged in Japan

The recent oarfish discoveries have sparked renewed debate on social media about impending doom, although scientists dispute such claims.

"They looked mysterious and beautiful," Satomi Higa of the Yomitan's fisheries cooperative association told the Okinawa Times.

"They looked like real dragons."

Although rarely caught in fishing nets, six oarfish were recently captured or found beached in Toyama on the western shores of central Japan.

The pair netted off Okinawa died en route to an aquarium before fishermen ate part of a fin as sashimi -- although fisheries officials noted only a portion that had ripped off while loading one of the creatures onto the boat had been sampled.