Encinitas, California - A rare and almost mythical creature from the deep sea has washed up on a California beach in the form of an oarfish measuring more than 9 feet long!

Normally these bony fish are at home in the depths of the oceans and sightings are almost unheard of even though they live in almost all tropical and temperate oceans.

Last week, however, a dead specimen washed up near the town of Encinitas on the southern California coast.

Alison Laferriere, a doctoral student at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, reportedly discovered the strange fish on Grandview Beach.

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The animal is said to be 9 to 10 feet long but oarfish have been known to reach up to a length of around 26 feet, making them the longest bony fish.

They are also popularly known as "doomsday fish" because they are said to be able to predict natural disasters and earthquakes.

Seafaring reports from ancient times which tell of monstrous sea serpents are said to be based on these fish, which can be up to 170 vertebrae long.

Oarfish are still not particularly well researched due to their deep-sea habitat – they live up to 1,000 meters below the ocean surface!

According to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, only 20 specimens have washed up on the Californian coast in more than 120 years.

And yet this is not the first time that such a creature has "haunted" the southwestern state this year – it was only in August that snorkelers discovered a dead oarfish in La Jolla Cove!

That specimen was about 12 feet long and was also examined by the Scripps Institute.