'Doomsday fish that portends disaster' found day before deadly Taiwan quake

The fishing boat's owner believes it's no coincidence, but is the sinister reputation of the oarfish just the stuff of legend?

Photo shows the fish. Courtesy Brenjeng Caayon

A “DOOMSDAY fish” that’s said to only surface when disaster is near has been found – and a seaman says it portended the deadly Taiwan earthquake.

Oarfish typically live at depths of up to 3,300 feet, but Japanese legend says they appear in shallow waters when a seismic event is imminent.

Now it’s emerged that an oarfish was caught in the Philippines shortly before neighbouring Taiwan faced its biggest quake in 25 years.

The creature was caught near Kalanggaman Island, roughly 900 miles south of the epicentre, at 2am on Tuesday, some 30 hours before the earthquake.

Brenjeng Caayon, whose fishing boat MB Starlight made the catch, believes it’s no coincidence.

Speaking yesterday (Wednesday), he said: “This is a bad omen, according to superstition.