Description: A large, oblong, fusiform fish, slightly compressed. Lower jaw slightly protruding beyond the upper. Two dorsal fins, the first one low. Two finlets present after the second dorsal and anal fins. Skin very rough; scales interspersed with sharp spiny tubercles. Ventral keels on the belly between the pelvic fins and the anus. Colour uniformly dark purplish-brown.
Global Distribution: Circumglobal in tropical, subtropical and temperate waters. View Map
BIOLOGICAL FEATURES
Size: Maximum length 300 cm (total length); common length : 150 cm (standard length); maximum published weight 63.5 kg.
Age:
Weight length rel.: Portugal, south coast (Santos et al. 2002): a=0.0031, b=3.134, r2=0.964 (n=26).
Growth type: Isometric
von Bertallanfy growth parameters:
Reproduction:
Maturity:
Behavioural ecology: Usually solitary or in pairs near the bottom.
Population structure & migrations: Migrates far offshore.
ECOLOGICAL FEATURES
Depth range: FishBase: 100 - 800 m, usually 200 - 400 m.
Habitat: Pelagic. Usually over the continental shelf, sometimes in oceanic waters down to 800 m. Usually solitary or in pairs near the bottom.
Feeding habits: Feeds on fish, crustaceans and squid.
Trophic level: FishBase: 4.2
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: Commercial species. By-catch of the drifting longlines for black scabbardfish.
Conservation status: Global: Not evaluated.
Europe: Least concern.
Nutritional information & food safety: Health warning: the flesh contains indigestible wax esters, and may have purgative properties.
REFERENCES
Carpenter K.E., ed. (2002). The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae), sea turtles and marine mammals. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. FAO, Rome, pp. 1375-2127.
Hureau J.-C., ed. (1984-1985). Fishes of the North-Eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO. Accessed through: Marine Species Identification Portal. World Wide Web electronic publication. http://species-identification.org (2014).
IUCN (2014). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. www.iucnredlist.org
Nieto A., Ralph G.M., Comeros-Raynal M.T., Kemp J., GarcÃa Criado M., Allen D.J., Dulvy N.K., Walls R.H.L., Russell B., Pollard D., GarcÃa S., Craig M., Collette B.B., Pollom R., Biscoito M., Labbish Chao N., Abella A., Afonso P., Ãlvarez H., Carpenter K.E., Clò S., Cook R., Costa M.J., Delgado J., Dureuil M., Ellis J.R., Farrell E.D., Fernandes P., Florin A-B., Fordham S., Fowle, S., Gil de Sola L., Gil Herrera J., Goodpaster A., Harvey M., Heessen H., Herler J., Jung A., Karmovskaya E., Keskin C., Knudsen S.W., Kobyliansky S., KovaÄić M., Lawson J.M., Lorance P., McCully Phillips S., Munroe T., Nedreaas K., Nielsen J., Papaconstantinou C., Polidoro B., Pollock C.M., Rijnsdorp A.D., Sayer C., Scott J., Serena F., Smith-Vaniz W.F., Soldo A., Stump E., Williams J.T. (2015). Europen Red List of Marine Fishes. IUCN and European Union, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 90 pp.
Santos M.N., Gaspar M.B., Vasconcelos P., Monteiro C.C. (2002). Weight–length relationships for 50 selected fish species of the Algarve coast (southern Portugal). Fisheries Research, 59(1): 289-295.
