Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) >
Perciformes (Perch-likes) >
Trichiuridae (Cutlassfishes) > Lepidopinae
Etymology: Lepidopus: Greek, lepis = scale + Greek, pous = foot (Ref. 45335).
Environment / Climate / Range
Ecology
Marine; benthopelagic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 42 - 620 m (Ref. 56504), usually 100 - 300 m (Ref. 6181). Deep-water, preferred 24°C (Ref. 107945); 64°N - 49°S, 29°W - 176°W (Ref. 6181)
Eastern Atlantic: France and western Mediterranean to Senegal, including Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands and offshore seamounts; Cape Fria, Namibia to Agulhas Bank, South Africa including northern Walvis Ridge. Southern Indian Ocean: seamounts 30 to 35°S. Southwest Pacific: Australia (New South Wales to southern West Australia) and New Zealand. Southeast Pacific: Peru. A doubtful record from Cape San Lucas, Mexico.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?, range 92 - ? cm
Max length : 210 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 36731); common length : 117 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 6181); max. published weight: 8.0 kg (Ref. 6181)
Occur on continental shelf, along its edge and upper slope down to 400 m (600 m in Australia), usually over sandy and muddy bottoms from 100 to 250 m (over 300 m in Australia). Depth range from 333-620 m in the eastern Ionian Sea (Ref. 56504). Migrate into midwater at night. Form schools; occasionally found inshore in upwelling of deep water when it appears at surface. Feed on crustaceans, small squid and fish (Ref. 6768). Eggs and larvae are pelagic (Ref. 6768).
Nakamura, I. and N.V. Parin, 1993. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 15. Snake mackerels and cutlassfishes of the world (families Gempylidae and Trichiuridae). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the snake mackerels, snoeks, escolars, gemfishes, sackfishes, domine, oilfish, cutlassfishes,. scabbardfishes, hairtails, and frostfishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(15):136 p. (Ref. 6181)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)
CITES (Ref. 94142)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: highly commercial; gamefish: yes
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Estimates of some properties based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82805): PD
50 = 0.5156 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00046 (0.00035 - 0.00060), b=3.06 (2.98 - 3.14), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref.
93245).
Trophic Level (Ref.
69278): 3.8 ±0.3 se; Based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref.
69278): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.06-0.3; tmax=7).
Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Moderate to high vulnerability (53 of 100) .
