Description: A large, deep-bodied, laterally compressed and oval-shaped fish. Dorsal fin with a high anterior lobe opposite the equally long and curved pelvic fins. Pectoral fins long and sickle-shaped, placed high on the sides. Body covered with small, smooth scales. Blue or green dorsally, silver ventrally, with opaque white spots, and deep red fins.
Global Distribution: Worldwide in tropical to temperate waters. View Map
BIOLOGICAL FEATURES
Size: Maximum length 200 cm (total length); common length 120 cm (TL); maximum weight 275 kg.
Age:
Weight length rel.:
Growth type:
von Bertallanfy growth parameters:
Reproduction: Probably spawns in the spring.
Maturity:
Behavioural ecology: Apparently solitary.
Population structure & migrations:
ECOLOGICAL FEATURES
Depth range: FishBase: 100 - 500 m.
Habitat: Oceanic; epi- and mesopelagic.
Feeding habits: Feeds on midwater fishes and invertebrates, mainly squids.
Trophic level: FishBase: 4.2
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: Minor commercial species; gamefish. Occasional by-catch of tuna fisheries.
Conservation status: Global: Not evaluated.
Europe: Least concern.
Nutritional information & food safety: Flesh red, tender, delicately flavoured.
REFERENCES
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.
Francour P., Cottalorda J.M., Aubert M., Bava S., Colombey M., Gilles P., Kara H., Lelong P.m Mangialajo L., Miniconi R., Quignard J.P. (2010). Recent occurrences of opah, Lampris guttatus (Actinopterygii, Lampriformes, Lampridae), in the western Mediterranean Sea. Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria, 40(1): 91-98.
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.
