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Lampris guttatus (Brünnich, 1788)

Opah
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Lampris guttatus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Lampris guttatus (Opah)
Lampris guttatus
Picture by Mincarone, M.M.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Lampriformes (Velifers, tube-eyes and ribbonfishes) > Lampridae (Opahs)
Etymology: Lampris: Greek, lampros = light (Ref. 45335);  guttatus: Species name form the Latin' regius' meaning king's (Ref. 6885).

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; bathypelagic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 500 m (Ref. 89422), usually ? - 366 m (Ref. 5951). Deep-water; 75°N - 60°S, 180°W - 180°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Worldwide in tropical to temperate waters (Ref. 57923). Western Atlantic: Grand Banks and Nova Scotia (Canada) to Florida (USA), Gulf of Mexico and the West Indies (Ref. 7251) up to Argentina (Ref. 47377). Eastern Atlantic: Norway and Greenland to Senegal (Ref. 6737) and south of Angola (Ref. 6476) also Mediterranean. Eastern Pacific: Gulf of Alaska to south of southern California (Ref. 265). A single capture in South Georgia marks an incidental occurrence in Southern Ocean.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 200 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5188); common length : 120 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5217); max. published weight: 270.0 kg (Ref. 5188)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 48 - 55; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 33 - 41; Vertebrae: 43. Caudal fin broadly lunate; pectorals long and falcate; pelvic fins similar to pectoral fins in shape and a little longer (Ref. 6885). Dark steely blue dorsally shading into green with silver and purple iridescence, belly rosy, body covered with silvery spots in irregular rows, light mottling on caudal and dorsal fins; vermillion on fins and jaws, golden around eyes (Ref. 6885).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Oceanic and apparently solitary (Ref. 6737). Epi- and mesopelagic (Ref. 58302). Feeds on midwater fishes and invertebrates, mainly squids (Ref. 6737). Probably spawns in the spring (Ref. 6885). Occasionally taken as a by-catch of tuna fisheries. Considered a good food fish (Ref. 5242); marketed fresh and frozen; prepared as sashimi (Ref. 9987). Swims by flapping the pectoral fins (Ref. 36731).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Palmer, G., 1986. Lamprididae. p. 725-726. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 6737)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 07 May 2013

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
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Ecology
Ecology
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Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
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Visual pigment(s)
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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 5 - 19.9, mean 12.1 °C (based on 1423 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 1.0000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01995 (0.00906 - 0.04395), b=3.01 (2.83 - 3.19), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.2   ±0.62 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 5.0 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Assuming tm>4).
Prior r = 0.28, 95% CL = 0.18 - 0.42, Based on 1 data-limited stock assessment.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (60 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Moderate vulnerability (38 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Very high.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 13 [4, 32] mg/100g; Iron = 0.295 [0.127, 0.889] mg/100g; Protein = 21.3 [16.9, 24.1] %; Omega3 = 0.148 [0.055, 0.397] g/100g; Selenium = 21.5 [7.0, 69.8] μg/100g; VitaminA = 9.27 [1.00, 83.81] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.245 [0.123, 0.529] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.