Description: A medium-sized fish. Body somewhat deep, laterally compressed; body depth 33 - 40% of standard length. Relatively large head, with very large lateral eyes, and skin-covered cavities around the eyes containing a transparent slimy liquid. Body covered in rough scales, including on the cheeks. Dorsal fin with 4 close-set spines followed by soft rays. Pectoral fins pointing steeply upward. Caudal fin deeply forked. Dorsal parts of head and body as well as the fins are bright red or orange; sides and ventral part of the body silvery pink; iris blood-red.
Global Distribution: Circumglobal, excluding the northeast Pacific and Mediterranean Sea. View Map
BIOLOGICAL FEATURES
Size: Maximum length 70 cm; common to 40 cm; maximum weight 4 kg.
Reproduction: Oviparous, batch spawners. Eggs and larvae are pelagic.
Maturity:
Behavioural ecology:
Population structure & migrations:
ECOLOGICAL FEATURES
Depth range: FishBase: 25 - 1300 m, usually 400 - 600 m.
Habitat: Benthopelagic. Juveniles are pelagic. Adults inhabit the outer shelf and slope to at least 1,300 m depth, probably moving further from the bottom at night; often found over seamounts and underwater ridges.
Feeding habits: Feed mainly on fish, crustaceans and cephalopods.
Trophic level: FishBase: 4.4
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: Commercial species.
Conservation status: Global: Not evaluated.
Europe: Near threatened.
Nutritional information & food safety:
Proximate composition per 100 g:
energy value 133.17 kcal (6.7% DRV)
protein 20.79 g (41.6% DRV)
fat 1.73 g (2.5% DRV)
of which saturates 0.51 g (2.6% DRV)
omega-3 (EPA+DHA): 0.511 g (recommended: 0.250 - 2.0 g daily)
REFERENCES
Brito A., Pascual P.J., Falcón J.M., Sancho A., González G. (2002). Peces de las islas Canarias. Catálogo comentado e ilustrado. Francisco Lemos Editor, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, 418 pp.
Carpenter K.E., ed. (2002). The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 2: Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae to Grammatidae). FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. FAO, Rome, pp. 601-1374.
Direcção Regional de Pescas, Madeira.
Ferreira S., Sousa R., Delgado J., Carvalho D., Chada T. (2008). Weight-length relationships for demersal fish species caught off the Madeira archipelago (eastern-central Atlantic). Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 24: 93-95.
Fischer W., Bianchi G., Scott W.B., eds. (1981). FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Eastern Central Atlantic; fishing areas 34, 47 (in part). Canada Funds-in-Trust. Ottawa, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, by arrangement with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, vol. 1, 326 pp.
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.
Rosa A., Menezes G., Melo O., Pinho M.R. (2006). Weight–length relationships of 33 demersal fish species from Azores archipelago. Fisheries Research, 80(2): 329-332.
