| Blue butterfish | |
|---|---|
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| Dead specimen collected by trawl net in Naples area | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Scombriformes |
| Family: | Stromateidae |
| Genus: | Stromateus |
| Species: | S. fiatola |
| Binomial name | |
| Stromateus fiatola | |
| Synonyms [2] | |
The blue butterfish (Stromateus fiatola), is a species of pelagic fish in the genus Stromateus .
The blue butterfish usually grows about 40 cm (16 in), but the largest length of the blue butterfish that has been recorded was 50 cm (20 in). [3] Dorsal soft rays (total): 42–50 cm; Anal soft rays: 33 – 38 cm. Blue to brownish in color and darker spots dorsally, silver to whitish ventrally; juveniles with vertical bars on body and small black pelvic fins. [4]
The blue butterfish is a pelagic fish, usually found in depths of 10–70 m (33–230 ft). [5] It mainly lives in the Atlantic Ocean and is widely distributed in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, specifically in the Bay of Biscay, the Mediterranean, southward of the cape of good hope, and South Africa. This fish can also be found in the Red Sea. [4]
The blue butterfish feeds on smaller fishes, jellyfish, [6] and zooplankton. This fish is part of the trophic guild, planktotrophic, which means that they have a long pelagic larval stage and feed on their prey while suspended in the water column. [7] The blue butterfish is also referred to as a pelagic mesopredator due to feeding on smaller animals within the pelagic zone. [8]
The blue butterfish undergoes sexual reproduction. The reproduction is both oviparous ( female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother) and iteroparous (an organism that can undergo many reproductive events within its lifetime).
Names of blue butterfish in other languages as follows: Bukla (Albanian), Ψευτολίτσα (Pseftolitsa) (Greek), Palometa fiatola (Spanish), Fieto (Italian), Blauer Butterfisch (German), Żuwak fiatola (Polish), Pampo-godinho (Portuguese), Фиатола (Fiatola) (Russian), Plotica morska (Serbian, Croatian), Figa (Slovenian), Yıldız balığı (Turkish), Fiatole (French).
Zooplankton are the heterotrophic component of the planktonic community, having to consume other organisms to thrive. Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents. Consequently, they drift or are carried along by currents in the ocean, or by currents in seas, lakes or rivers.
Marine angelfish are perciform fish of the family Pomacanthidae. They are found on shallow reefs in the tropical Atlantic, Indian, and mostly western Pacific Oceans. The family contains seven genera and about 86 species. They should not be confused with the freshwater angelfish, tropical cichlids of the Amazon Basin.
The Atlantic mackerel, also known as Boston mackerel, Norwegian mackerel, Scottish mackerel or just mackerel, is a species of mackerel found in the temperate waters of the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, and the northern Atlantic Ocean, where it is extremely common and occurs in huge shoals in the epipelagic zone down to about 200 m (660 ft). It spends the warmer months close to shore and near the ocean surface, appearing along the coast in spring and departing with the arrival of colder weather in the fall and winter months. During the fall and winter, it migrates out into deeper and more southern water, seeking warmer temperatures.
Peprilus paru,, also occasionally known by a few local names as star butter fish or sometimes even simply as butterfish, is a marine, benthopelagic, circular-shaped and deep-bodied fish classified in the family Stromateidae of butterfishes.
Pelagic fish live in the pelagic zone of ocean or lake waters—being neither close to the bottom nor near the shore—in contrast with demersal fish that live on or near the bottom, and reef fish that are associated with coral reefs.
Pelagia noctiluca is a jellyfish in the family Pelagiidae and the only currently recognized species in the genus Pelagia. It is typically known in English as the mauve stinger, but other common names are purple-striped jelly, purple stinger, purple people eater, purple jellyfish, luminous jellyfish and night-light jellyfish. In Greek, pelagia means "(she) of the sea", from pelagos "sea, open sea"; in Latin noctiluca is the combining form of nox, "night"", and lux, "light"; thus, Pelagia noctiluca can be described as a marine organism with the ability to glow in the dark (bioluminescence). It is found worldwide in tropical and warm temperate seas, although it is suspected that records outside the North Atlantic region, which includes the Mediterranean and Gulf of Mexico, represent closely related but currently unrecognized species.
The louvar or luvar is a species of marine ray-finned fish, it is the only extant species in the genus Luvarus and family Luvaridae. This taxon is classified within the suborder Acanthuroidei, which includes the surgeonfish, of the order Acanthuriformes, and is the only pelagic species of this order. The juvenile form has a pair of spines near the base of the tail, like the surgeonfish, though they are lost in the adult.
The black ruff is a medusafish, the only member of the genus Centrolophus. It is a pelagic fish found in all tropical and temperate oceans at depths of 0 to 1,000 m. Its length is typically up to 60 cm (24 in), but it may reach 150 cm (60 in). Other common names include rudderfish and blackfish.
Nomeus gronovii, the man-of-war fish or bluebottle fish, is a species of fish in the family Nomeidae, the driftfish. It is a distinct species characterized by an elongated body, large eyes, and blackish-blue stripes, growing up to 39 cm long. Inhabiting warm, deep pelagic zones of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans between 200 and 1,000 meters deep, this fish lives within the tentacles of the Portuguese man o' war, feeding on its tentacles and gonads. Although it possesses resistance to the toxin produced by the man o' war, this species actively avoids larger tentacles and occasionally feeds on smaller ones. The species' agility, high vertebrae count, and specialized skin features contribute to its toxin avoidance. It is the sole known species in its genus and undergoes a lifestyle shift from pelagic to demersal as it matures. Reproduction involves egg release by females, yielding larvae adapted to open water life, with each female capable of producing 100 to 1000 offspring.
Cotylorhiza is a genus of true jellyfish from the family Cepheidae. The genus is found in the central-east Atlantic, Mediterranean, and western Indian Ocean.
Coastal fish, also called inshore fish or neritic fish, inhabit the sea between the shoreline and the edge of the continental shelf. Since the continental shelf is usually less than 200 metres (660 ft) deep, it follows that pelagic coastal fish are generally epipelagic fish, inhabiting the sunlit epipelagic zone. Coastal fish can be contrasted with oceanic fish or offshore fish, which inhabit the deep seas beyond the continental shelves.
The piper gurnard, also known as the piper or the lyre gurnard, is a species of marine, demersal ray-finned fish from the family Triglidae, the gurnards and sea robins. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Trigla.
The Mediterranean sand smelt, Atherina hepsetus, is a species of fish in the family Atherinidae that inhabits the littoral zone of the east Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
Helicolenus dactylopterus, blackbelly rosefish, bluemouth rockfish, and bluemouth seaperch, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Sebastinae which is classified within the family Scorpaenidae. This Atlantic species is a typical sit-and-wait predator with a highly cryptic coloration.
Stegastes leucostictus is a species of damselfish found near the sea bed in shallow waters on the western fringes of the Atlantic Ocean. It is commonly known as the beau gregory or beaugregory.
Capros, the boarfish or Zulu fish, is a monospecific genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Caproidae. Its only known species is Capros aper. The boarfish is found in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean.
Trachurus lathami is a species of fish in the family Carangidae and the genus Trachurus, the jack mackerels. Common names include rough scad and horse mackerel in English, as well as chinchard frappeur (French), chicharro garretón (Spanish), jurel, and carapau, garaçuma, surel, and xixarro. It is native to parts of the western Atlantic Ocean, including seas off the eastern coasts of North and South America and the Gulf of Mexico.
The Gulf butterfish is a fish species of the family Stromateidae found in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of the Eastern United States.
Girella nigricans, commonly known as the opaleye or rudderfish, is a species of sea chub found in the Eastern Pacific, from California to southern Baja California. A rarely documented isolated population also exists in the Gulf of California, which might be genetically different from the rest of the species. They are commonly found in shallow waters and intertidal zones, usually over rocks and kelp beds, at depths of 1 to 32 m. They feed primarily on algae, but will occasionally consume sessile invertebrates. They are considered commercially important game fish.
Stromateus is a genus of ray-finned fish from the butterfish family Stromateidae, of which it is the type genus.
