Splendid alfonsino
Shiny mucus head ( Beryx splendens)
The Shining mucus head Beryx splendens, is a marine fish medium depths, which is increasingly used industrially since the late 1960s,. He belongs to the order as Berycide Beryciformes, primitive Stachelflossern. The origin of the genus name Cuvier (1829 ) is not safe. According to theories he goes on βήρυξ < βήρηξ < βάραξ back (possibly because of similarity with perca " perch " ), whose meaning is unclear.
Description
It is a fish that lives and (more or 180-1300 m ) on seamounts at the continental slopes: wide-eyed, skin ( splendens, " bright " ) vermilion to scarlet ( " Imperador, orange roughy "; during stress fading: sides silvery ), ie the fish looks in depth from always black. On the night he rises and moves away by the substrate into the open water, where he also spawns ( in the "Winter": delivered in clumps eggs repeated; pelagic as well as the larval young fish with elongated second dorsal fin spine - see fig the Beryx. decadactylus ). He lives gregarious and feeds ( bathy - up mesopelagisch ) of smaller fish, squid and crustaceans. As an important food fish ( with the appropriate equipment: caught trawls, demersal nets, longlines ), he is in some places already threatened since it is only slowly increasing (cf. also hoplostethus atlanticus ).
The name " slime head " was given because of the well-developed head lateral-line system, which is initially (19th century) as " slime " producing regarded (see illustration at Beryx decadactylus ); " Alfonsin ( o), Alfonsim ": because of physiognomic resemblance to a Spanish rulers ( chin excellently ). Body quite Kompress, abdominal edge therefore " cut " (Book Name " sawbelly ").
The medium sized sheds (about 3 per vertebra; 24 vertebrae ) have on the free edge inside a soft cushion - the scales are always a little off, the fish is rough. The Schuppendörnchen are not movable ( unlike the Percomorpha - so actually Spinoid instead of ctenoid scales ). Lacrimale front with abstehendem mandrel. Two Supramaxillaria; Maxilla still involved at the mouth edge. Teeth (also on vomer and palatine ) consistently small. Branchiostegalmembran with 8 (rarely 9) radii ( in Perciformes, however, usually 7). At the pylorus 23 to 30 Pylorusschläuche ( appendices pyloricae ). Up to 70 cm long, 4 kg, 23 J. of age - the great individuals are rare, because even the natural mortality ( predation ) is high. Fins formula: D IV/13-16, A IV/26-30, PI/17, VI/8-11, C ( 18 - ) 19 (16 or 17 split, with just a short bias beams stiffened ).
Occurrence
Offshore in all tropical to temperate warm seas except the Mediterranean, Red Sea, Persian Gulf and Northeast Pacific. ( coasts of Canada, and not only lost to coasts of France and England as well as Hokkaido and Patagonia ) - 1996 an attempt was made off the coast of Liguria to establish a population and it seems to be possible - due to genetic analysis can be assumed that the only type comprising a population because the larvae for slow gene replacement provide worldwide.; regional meristic differences are thus developmentally limited.